Favorite Cards of 2013

Hey there!

It's New Year's Eve and I thought I had better get this post up before 2014 begins! I've chosen some of my favorite creations from this past year to share with you. 

In the last 12 months, I fell even more in love with card making and also found a love for mixed media and art journaling. Here are my faves shown in chronological order.

Remember how much we all LOVED the Leafy Vines stamp from Hero Arts? YUM!

                          This one was inspired by Shari Carroll (I think she's amazing!) 

                  

                                      The Painted Flower from Hero Arts was another fave this year.

                                          I created this one for my son David's 18th birthday.

                                               Another card inspired by Shari Carroll.

 This optical illusion card was created using two of the Simon Says Stamp, Full Card Hexagons Dies, and layering them together to make the cubes.

                This one was inspired by Jennifer McGuire's card in the online class, Summer Card Camp 2.

                                                  LOVE this WPlus9 stamp and die set!

 This is very special to me. It's page one in my Art Journal. It was my first try at mixed media and I fell in love!

  

                          Here's a double page in my Art Journal. I really love how this one turned out!

                    So fun to use splatter on cards, and this Hero Arts butterfly has always been a fave!

                        I love how easy it is to create an impact with this Simon Says Stamp stencil set.

                 It's always so exciting when Simon Says Stamp comes out with new stamps and dies!

                                  More Mixed Media - this time on a canvas block from Tim Holtz.

           This is my favorite Christmas card created this year, using Simon Says Stamp dies and stencil.

                                                          Mixed Media on a card - love!

                        This wonderful stamp and die set from WPlus9 was definitely a fave this year!

Yup, another card inspired by the amazing Shari Carroll - what would I do without her? :)

                           Getting inky has always made me happy, so I leave you with this last one.

If you're still reading this, thank you! I know it was a long post.

I want to also thank each and every one of you for the visits, comments, support, encouragement and inspiration over the last year! I love this amazing hobby of ours! ♥♥♥

Wishing you all a fabulous New Year! Here's to lots more creativity in 2014! 

Merry Christmas!

Hi there!

It's Monday, the day before Christmas Eve, and I'm heading to work soon. I'll be there again tomorrow, then looking forward to a wonderful Christmas Eve evening at my sister's house - can't wait!

I'm sharing a holiday ATC with you today, which I created for the Secret Santa Exchange we had over at the Hero Arts Flickr group. 

I used Shari's Tree No. 1 from Hero Arts. The tree is paper pieced - tough to tell in the photo. I don't know why, but I decided to cut out each piece of the tree before adhering it together on the base. Looks so cool in real life! 

The background was created using another stamp from Hero Arts called Tiny Flakes. I white embossed it and used the resist technique with Distress Inks. I had to add some Yellow Stickles to the star for a bit of sparkle. :)

Okay, I gotta run - it's gonna be a fun two days at work! It's one of the few times during the year when they let us dress up in nicer clothes (as opposed to our uniforms.) Everyone is in a happy mood and we also have live music in the store! It's three older gentleman who play a violin, keyboard and chello. They play Christmas songs and the customers just love it - so do I! 

I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday with friends and family! ♥♥♥

Peace, Joy, Love

Hi there!

The holidays always get so busy - wish I could slow down and enjoy them more! *sigh* Whenever I feel a bit crazed this time of year, I try to find some time to create. It has a wonderful, calming effect, and I know you know what I mean.

So, I just HAD TO order the adorable Lawn Fawn set called, Peace, Joy, Love. The images and sentiments in this set are so darn cute! I created two different cards with it so far. On this first one, I also used the Curved Edge Die from Simon Says Stamp.

And here's my second card.

Aren't those love birds just the cutest?! I'll be saving this one to give to my hubby for Valentine's Day. The snow was created using the Falling Snow Stencil from Simon Says Stamp and some Color Box Frost White Ink.

I've got tomorrow off work and I'm hoping to get my shopping finished, and gifts wrapped. After that, I have to work the next six out of seven days before Christmas. I don't mind though - it's such a fun time at the store - people just seem to be happier this time of year! I hope I can find time in the next couple of days to take some photos to share with you. The gal who decorates the store does an amazing job and it looks so festive!

I hope you're having a good week and are all caught up on your shopping and card making! I'm not sending out as many cards as I usually do. I feel bad about it but it just was not possible this year. Could you please remind me I need to start making them in August next year?! ;)

Thanks so much for stopping by! ♥

Another Guest Design Post

Happy Saturday!

I'm guest designing again, with a second card over at the Die Cut Diva's blog today. I used another wonderful, digi image from Bugaboo Stamps.

It's difficult to see the embossed snowflakes on my background panel but I love the soft effect it gives. It's also a nice contrast to the texture from the blue tinsel, which I used to frame the pretty jingle bells image.

Once again, I colored the image with watercolor pencils.

I hope you'll head on over to the Die Cut Divas' blog and check out the post!

Enjoy your weekend - I'll be Christmas shopping all day today - starting to get a little panicky - Yikes! Gotta get it done!

Thanks for stopping by! ♥

Guest Designing

Hi there!

I was invited by my sweet friend Dawn to guest design for the Die-Cut Divas' blog this month. They are sponsored by Bugaboo Digi Stamps all month long and sent me some adorable digital images to play with!

My first card is up on their blog today, along with an interview.

Isn't that skating penguin the cutest? I had such fun coloring him with water color pencils! I covered up his little tail with a pale pink heart and decided he'd look adorable on a circle card.

A big thank you to Dawn and the gals over at Die Cut Divas for inviting me to guest design this month! I'll be back on their blog in a couple of days, so be sure to stop by again !

If you've got a bit of time, pop on over to Die-Cut Divas and check out the post!

Thanks for your visit! ♥

Baby, It's COLD Outside!

Hi all!

Hope your Saturday is going well! We woke up this morning to -10°! That's BELOW zero! Yikes! It is so darn cold! They are warning of dangerous wind-chills today too. . .between -20° and -30°! I think I'll be staying inside - good day to create some more Christmas cards.

I've been making some tags lately too and love the Layered Tree Dies from Simon Says Stamp. The image is the perfect size for tags.

I cut out all the pieces, crinkled up each one, added some Distress Inks and glittered them up, before placing them all together to create the tree.

After a light shading with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink, the snow in the background was created with the SSS Falling Snow Stencil and some embossing paste. Then I added some snow hills, ribbon and a sentiment from Tim Holtz.

Here's a close-up:

And since this tree is all glittery, I am entering it into the 12 Tags of Christmas With a Feminine Twist challenge over on Ellen Hutson's blog, The Classroom. I was inspired by Kittie's snowflakes on her tag and also by the pretty, soft blue background on Jennifer's tag.

I'm way behind on my Christmas cards this year. The list will have to be less this time - it's just not possible to make as many as usual with my work schedule, Christmas shopping, and life in general. 

Thank you so much for visiting! Enjoy the rest of your weekend! ♥

It's About Time!

Hi there!

It's been just about two weeks since I last shared a card here on my blog. My mojo took an extended vacation and I really hate when that happens! I was starting to think it would never come back this time - geez!

So today, I was determined to sit down and create something - anything! It felt so good to finally finish a card and actually LIKE the way it turned out!

I grabbed the Holiday Borders stamp set from Simon Says Stamp and white embossed it on a strip of red cardstock. I love red, white and kraft together, so the kraft was my card base. I gave it a spritz with some Mister Huey's, Opaque White Color Mist and added some adorable Lawn Fawn sequins and snowflakes. I punched out the extra numbers to add to one of the snowflakes, popping them up with dimensional adhesive.

I finished off the card by adding some baker's twine and stamping the Hero Arts sentiment, which is from their Holiday Tags set.

I'm really enjoying work right now - I love the festive feel at the store and the beautiful plants and bouquets we've got in the floral department! If I find the time, I'll try and take some photos to share with ya soon.

As always, thank you so much for stopping by! ♥

Designer in the Spotlight!

Hi all!

It's Saturday and I'm happy to announce that I was invited to be the Designer in the Spotlight over at Sweet Stamp Shop today! 

My sweet Friend, Judy is one of their designers and has chosen a card of mine to CASE. I can't wait to see her take on my card!

I hope, if you have a bit of time, you'll stop over at the Sweet Stamp Shop blog to check it out and leave me some love!

Big thanks to Judy for inviting me to be in the spotlight today!

Thank you for stopping by - enjoy your weekend! ♥

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi all!

No card today - I've been in quite the slump lately with absolutely no mojo but hoping it comes back soon!

I just wanted to wish all my U.S. friends a very Happy Thanksgiving! I am so grateful for the blessings in my life, which includes all you crafty friends who stop by here to see what I've created, comment and give me encouragement! I hope you know how much I appreciate it!

Hubby and I will be making mashed potatoes today for thirty people to bring over to my sister's house. Looking so forward to seeing my family today - always so much fun!

Tomorrow, the two of us treated ourselves to tickets to see "Viva Noel, A Holiday Cirque!" I'm so excited and can't wait to spend the day doing something special with my hubby! :)

I hope those of you celebrating Thanksgiving have a day filled with friends, family, yummy food and lots of love!

Getting Inky

Hello!

I've been playing with some ink and paint and wanted to share a background I created. I think it turned out so cool looking!

I love the Distress Ink colors that Shari Carroll used on the background of her card here. I have the Evergreen Bough but not the Iced Spruce, so I used Brushed Pewter Distress Paint instead. I love the bit of shimmer it gives!

 

This technique turns out different every time you use it and it was really fun playing with it again! You can either add the ink, paint and water to an acrylic block, then press the block onto your paper, OR add the ink, paint and water to your craft sheet and press, slide and smoosh your paper into the mixture. I did both for this card. It's important to use water color paper for this technique and to dry each layer before adding the next. 

After my panel had dried, I stamped the Hero Arts Classic Evergreen with Versafine Onyx Black ink. The sentiment has such a pretty font, doesn't it? It's also Hero Arts and it's from their Merry Christmas Messages. For a bit more shimmer, I added some Basic Grey Candy Buttons. They are similar to enamel dots, only these ones are silver and sparkly.

I'm entering this into the Hero Arts Holiday Challenge, in the A Few of My Favorite Things category. (I love using this technique, I love that pretty font on the sentiment and I love enamel dots.)

I am so glad you stopped by today - thank you! Have a wonderful weekend! :)

Day #4 Holiday Card Workshop

Hi there!

It's Tuesday and I'm off work today - gladly doing my homework for the Holiday Card Workshop class! Day #4 was all about stretching your stamps and thinking outside the box.

Shari Carroll shared a beautiful card with stamped trees in blues and greens. I decided to use reds and pinks for mine. The patterned papers are from Lawn Fawn and My Mind's Eye. The stamped trees and sentiment, are from the Lawn Fawn set called, Let It Snow. 

It's difficult to tell from the photo but my sequins are all pink, silver and white. I used Hero Arts Shadow Inks to stamp the trees and I silver embossed the sentiment.

This was such a fun card to make! I'm hoping to get another one or two created for yesterday's lesson, before the next one tomorrow.

I'm heading outside soon, to rake up the last of the leaves. I'm very happy we are almost through the month of November and still no snow on the ground!  I love feeling like we cheated winter a little bit - one month down, four more to go! 

Thanks for the visit! :)

My Kind of Homework!

Happy Saturday!

I've had a wonderful week off from work and am enjoying my last day home with lots of crafting. With the weather being gloomy and rainy today, I'm grateful for this hobby! Although my house would be a whole lot cleaner if I didn't love making cards so much! 

The online card class, Holiday Card Workshop, has been so inspiring so far! Amazing creativity and talent from the teachers and guest designers!

On day #2, Jennifer shared a card using wood paper and Copics. It was a one layer but it looked like it had lots of dimension because of the way she colored her image. I wanted to try it too, so I took on the challenge.

It's not your typical Christmas card but we have a single, male friend who it will be perfect for. 

I used an unknown cloud die-set, and the trees are from the Hero Arts, Reindeer stamp and die set. There were no dimensional adhesives used on this card. It is totally flat.


My next card was also created for day #2. Stephanie Klauck shared some beautiful, sparkly snowflake cards with acetate windows. Here's my take.

I need to remember to use acetate more often! The snowflake die-cuts are both by Simon Says Stamp - Kate and Eliza.


Day #3 was all about clean and simple cards and that day's post was filled with more inspiration. I've been working on my homework for that lesson today. 

Shari Carroll is always amazing! She shared two fun cards and I've CASEd one of them here - love the cute design!

I used the adorable Lawn Fawn set called, Let it Snow. I didn't have any patterned paper I liked for the bottom of the card, so I stamped the red paper using a stars stamp from the Holiday Borders set by Simon Says Stamp.


Yikes, this is gettin' to be a long post - sorry! Only one more card. This one is also for day #3. Cristina Kowalczyk shared an absolutely beautiful CAS card! I wanted to give it a try using masking, a stencil and ink. Here's how it turned out.
 

I was going to leave it a one layer, but I smudge a portion of the card base, (I do that ALL THE TIME!) so I cut out my tree and gave it a bit of dimension. Definitely still CAS enough.

I do love how the plaid turned out! I used the new, Peppermint Stripe Stencil by Simon Says Stamp. I inked the masked portion of the tree area, then turned the stencil over and inked again, with a slightly different color. I used Evergreen Bough and Peacock Feathers Distress Inks. 

The "ornaments" on the tree were created using a tiny dot stamp from the Lots of Dots set by SSS and silver embossing powder. The Hero Arts sentiment was also silver embossed.

Okay, that's it. Thanks for sticking with me through a longer than normal post. I really wanted to share my cards here but didn't get time to put them into two different posts.

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend! :)

Holiday Card Workshop-Continued Day #1

Hello!

I'm back today with a couple more cards for our Day #1 assignment of the online card class, Holiday Card Workshop. They are trying out a new schedule with lessons only being posted every-other-day. I love this new set up! Gives me much more time to create and the ability to make more than just one card per lesson. It's so much more relaxing and enjoyable!

For my first card today, I took Kristina's design and made it my own. Love the red, white and pink with the kraft!

The ornament stamp is from Hero Arts and the sentiments (inside and out) are from Simon Says Stamp. I stamped the ornament twice, using Memento Luxe Inks, in Love Letter and Angel Pink, using a bit of masking on the inside.

My second card is a take on Jennifer's fab card! She calls this a folded banner card. It has a zig-zag fold and it was so fun to make!

I love this fun Christmas set from last year by Hero Arts! It comes with a set of matching dies. The kraft card base was stamped with Hero Arts Tiny Flakes Background cling stamp, using Color Box Frost White Ink. I also added some matching enamel dots - love!

And here is the inside.

I didn't take a photo of the card all the way open, but it's really fun because the sentiments line up so it looks like one, long banner.

I'm really enjoying class and looking forward to tomorrow's lesson with a couple of days to play again!

Thank you for stopping by! Hope you're enjoying your week so far! 


 

Holiday Card Workshop-Day #1

Hi There!

Today is Veterans Day in the U.S. People sometimes confuse the meaning of this day with Memorial Day, so here is an explanation of the difference between the two:
  
---Memorial Day is to honor all who have died during a war in which the United States was involved.

---Veterans Day is to honor all who have served, or are serving, in the US military.

A huge thank you to all those who have served, both past and present, and to their families who also sacrifice so much! 

So, I am taking the newest online card class, Holiday Card Workshop. 

Today is the first day of class and we are to focus on the insides of our cards.

I received some new goodies from Simon Says Stamp the other day and decided to use them for my homework. I LOVE their Peppermint Stripe Stencil!!

I used Barn Door Distress Ink with the stencil, then stamped the rows of snowflakes using Hero Arts, Soft Pool Shadow Ink and one of the stamps from the Holiday Borders set. The sentiment is from the Merry Christmas die, which I cut twice, and layered, to match my colors.

And here is a look at the inside.

The pocket was made with vellum and I just added the border along three sides using the same ink and the Peppermint Stripe Stencil again.

I've got this week off from work, so I am one, happy stamper! :)
Thanks for stopping by today! ♥

An Amazing Gift

Hi there!

I'm looking forward to enjoying a week off from work after tomorrow's shift. Next week will hopefully be filled with lots of Christmas card creations, a bit of cleaning and a lot of raking-up the massive amount of leaves that have been falling off my large maple trees. It's a good workout, but as my hubby and I get older, we are very grateful to have two strong boys to help!

When I get back to work, it will be crunch time for the holidays. I've been ordering up a storm of plants, bouquets, wreaths, Christmas decor items and outdoor spruce pots. The orders are all in, which is a really good feeling!

So, I do have a card to share with you today. Not long ago, I was given an amazing gift from a wonderful lady in the crafty community. I don't feel comfortable sharing her name or the exact gift she sent, but I want her to know I was overwhelmed by her kindness and amazed by her generosity! The stamp set I used for my card today was a very small part of this gift and I love it! It is so fun to use, so fun to create with and it will be a favorite of mine for a long time to come! It's the Woodland Wreath stamp set and dies from WPlus9.

I used Memento Luxe Inks to stamp all the layers and images of this awesome set. I splattered a bit of pink ink mixed with water onto the background and added some shimmer with a Wink of Stella Pen. I cannot seem to put it down lately - just love it!! Here's a close-up.
 

I'm hoping to come up with a few more ideas using this set. There are so many options with all the different stamps - LOVE!

That's it from me tonight. Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! ♥

A Special Thank You

Hi there!

I'm sure you've all heard by now that Cath will no longer be writing blog posts over at the Moxie Fab World blog. Such sad news. She is SO loved by SO many in the crafty community and she will be dearly missed!

They've invited us to create a card for her and share it here in this link. I couldn't pass up the chance to join in to show my appreciation for all the wonderful inspiration and happiness she has brought to me and many others! So this card is for you, Cath. 

I used lots of happy colors, stamping with the Simon Says stamp, Lots of Dots set to create a bokeh effect. I wanted this card to be a reminder of how happy I felt each time I stopped by the Moxie Fab World blog.

Cath, you made my days brighter with your daily, Oh, My Moxie Fab posts. I will miss that part of each afternoon (and so much more!) And I will miss you too - very much! I wish you nothing but the best in your new endeavors - I know whatever you decide to do, it will bring a special light into other people's lives. Hugs to you! ♥

Warm Wishes

Hi there!

I hope your weekend has been a good one so far! We had a gorgeous, autumn day yesterday - beautiful, blue skies and a bit warmer temps. Some of the trees in my neighborhood are at their peek of color and I'm loving it! I took a photo of the Autumn Blaze Maple in my back yard with my iphone. Of course, I have no idea how to add it here to my blog, so if you'd like to see it, you can check out this link over on Instagram. I promise, it's worth a quick look!

I had some time yesterday to play with some ink, paper, stamps and dies. Love mixing elements from different companies to create a card!

The little butterflies and sentiment are from Hero Arts' Made with Love clear set. I also used the Sizzix, Branch with Leaves die, and the Simon Says Stamp, Circle on a Line die.

Thanks for the visit! I'm off to get ready for work - hope you enjoy your Sunday! :)

Christmas Flair

Hello!

Gosh, it feels like such a long time since I've made a card - life sure gets in the way sometimes!

I'm trying to get more Christmas cards made, so I pulled out some of my Simon Says Stamp goodies again. I love their new, Holiday Peace and Joy Flair Badges. The colors are so fun! I wanted to use those same colors for a portion of my background, so I took a border stamp from their, Happy Everyday clear set and used Hero Arts Shadow Inks to create the stripes.

I cut the two striped pieces and adhered them to the steel gray panel. The sentiment is also from SSS - their Merry Christmas Die - LOVE IT!! And aren't those Flair Badges adorable?! The dots under the Christmas tree are actually a burgundy color but are showing up almost black in the photo.

That's it from me tonight - very late as usual - I'm such a night owl, but it's a great time to create without interruptions.

Hope you all have a great week! Thanks so much for stopping by! :)




 

Another Simon Says Stamp Tree

Hello!

Just a quick post tonight before heading to bed. I've been playin' some more with the Layered Trees sets from Simon Says Stamp. 

This time, I first used the Tiny Flakes cling stamp from Hero Arts, stamping it with different colors of Distress Inks, onto some cardstock. I then stamped the branches of the tree, die-cut them and assembled them onto my panel.

That pretty embossed background piece is actually a piece of resist paper from the Artisan Papers pack by Pink Paislee. Each piece has a "built in" resist design. I added similar colors of Distress Paint to the paper to coordinate with my tree. The sentiment is from Hero Arts' Merry Christmas Trees clear set.

Here's a close-up of the branches.

I've got the day off from work tomorrow - looking forward to some more play time - I certainly won't be going outside - it has gotten very cold! Our high temp today was only 40 degrees and I even saw a few flakes of snow on my way to work this morning - WAY too early!! I was sort of hoping for an Indian Summer - doesn't look like that will be happening - *sigh*

Hope your week has gotten off to a great start! Thank you for dropping by! ♥

Simon Says Stamp Goodies

Hi there!

I got some goodies from Simon Says Stamp's new Christmas release and I've been playin'.

I love their Layered Trees Sets. There's a stamp set, matching dies and matching stencils too!

My first card uses neutral colors. I stamped the open branches of the tree and added color with a light gray Copic marker. 

The star was also colored with a Copic, in a light beige color. The background was created using the new Falling Snow stencil and the sentiment is one from the new, "Christmas" clear set.

My next card uses the Falling Snow stencil again, only this time on a white background using blue ink. I also used two of the new SSS Snowflake dies; Kate and Eliza.

That die-cut, Merry Christmas sentiment is a new goodie too - LOVE IT!!

I'm hoping to find more time to play soon - lovin' this new release!

Thanks for stopping by! ♥