Hi there!
I don't always write a "favorites of the year" post but since I've tried and learned many new things this past year, I thought it would be fun to do.
There were some wonderful Online Card Classes which gave me amazing inspiration and the courage to try new things. So, many of the following cards were created during those classes.
Playing with different mediums such as Gesso, Embossing Paste and Gelatos was so fun!
Graffiti or Subway Art was a bit scary but with such cool results!
And then there's water coloring. Oh, did I ever fall in love with it this year! From lightly stamping an image before water coloring. . .
. . .to water coloring a white-embossed image. . .
. . .to trying freehand water coloring, it all really made me feel like an artist!
And of course, watercolored backgrounds are always a fave.
I also learned to make a stamped image even prettier by doodling black lines over it. This was another scary one to try but I loved it!
I had never made an interactive card before this year either. Here are two - first one is a shaker and the other one is an action wobbler - so fun!
I still enjoyed getting really inky too!
And I swear, some day, I'll be buying more dies than stamps - love them!
I fell in love with my Copic Markers again too - still love using them!
And if I absolutely had to pick a favorite card from the whole year, it would be this last one. I was so proud of how it turned out! The background, along with the wreath, was watercolored. I learned how to do it from the Watercolor for Card Makers Online Class.
That's a wrap! I have had a wonderful, creative year, learning so many new and fun techniques. I can't wait to see what 2015 brings!
A big thank you to all of you who stop by and leave such happy, encouraging comments! I hope you how much it means to me!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! ♥♥♥
Hi there!
Today I'm sharing a card for my fourth and final week of guest designing for the Simon Says Stamp, Wednesday challenge blog.
This week, our theme is Anything Goes and the design team have all been playing with DoCrafts
products. You don't have to use them but if you own some, we'd love to
see them on your projects!
I love the Quilting XCUT Embossing folder from DoCrafts! It creates such a pretty, textured background for your cards! I also used their Wild Rose 6x6 Paper Pack. It's filled with beautiful, soft patterns.
I decided to create a birthday card so I also used Simon Says Stamp's Brilliant Gifts Die, cutting it with both plain white and glitter cardstock. Here's a close-up:
The holidays are upon us so you will have two full weeks to play with this challenge AND there will be TWO WINNERS chosen for $50.00 gift vouchers to the Simon Says Stamp Store!! Is that awesome, or what?!
Now it's your turn! There's some awesome inspiration over on the Wednesday challenge blog. Check out all the fabulous cards from the design team and then, when the gift giving is over, the food has all been eaten and you've caught up on some much needed sleep, you can get creating! :)
I want to give special thanks to Lorraine, and the entire SSS Wednesday challenge blog team, for inviting me to guest design! It's been a wonderful month!
I'll be working all day today - gonna be crazy! Then home to change clothes, grab the family and head to my sister's house - can't wait!
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas! ♥♥♥
Hi everyone!
Today I'm sharing a card for my third week of guest designing for the Simon Says Stamp, Wednesday challenge blog.
This week, our theme is Winter Inspiration and the design team have all been playing with Penny Black products. You don't have to use them but if you own some, we'd love to see them on your projects!
Jenn created a wonderful inspiration board for you to use to inspire your wintery creations.
When I found out the theme and the products we were to play with, I knew right away which stamp I was going to use. It's my all-time favorite snowman image. He's one of the stamps in Penny Black's, Jolly Friends clear set. I don't know what it is about this little guy but he brings a smile to my face every time I stamp and color him!
Maybe it's his fuzzy hat and scarf, or his adorable face, or his fun, chubby shape. Actually, I think it's all three! :)
The card is fairly self explanatory. I colored the image with Copics and added some softly stamped snowflakes on both the card base and white panel.
As always, there is a generous, $50.00 gift voucher to the Simon Says Stamp Store for one lucky random winner of this week's challenge!
Now it's your turn! If you need some wintery inspiration, head on over to the Wednesday challenge blog and check out the amazing cards from the design team and then get creating!
I hope you're all well on your way to being ready for Christmas. Me? Well, let's just say I've got a ways to go yet but I keep reminding myself that it always gets done, right? My fingers are crossed!
Thanks for stopping by! ♥
Hi there!
I am finally playing along with Virginia's View challenge!
I really want to play each month, then I get too busy, time slips away from me and before I know it, I've missed another one. So, I was determined to get a card made this month because it's All Things Distressed and I love playing with Distress Inks!
I started with watercolor paper and did some white heat embossing using the Stars and Dots stencil from Simon Says Stamp. Then I took out my Iced Spruce and Evergreen Bough Distress Inks. I smooshed the inks onto my craft sheet, spritzed them with water and pressed the paper into the inky mess.
I always let each layer of ink dry before pressing the paper back into it. Backgrounds turn out really cool with this technique - take a look.
I decided to give the background a bit of silver too so I splattered it with some Tim Holtz, Brushed Pewter Distress Spray.
I used the same two inks to shade the Simon Says Stamp, Stitched Circles die-cuts, then layered them up with dimensional adhesive. The tree die-cut is from the Suspension Tree set and the die-cut, Merry Christmas sentiment is also from SSS.
Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy your weekend! ♥
Hi There!
Today I'm sharing a card for my second week of guest designing for the Simon Says Stamp, Wednesday challenge blog.
The theme this week is, "Bling It On!" The design team and I are using products from Kaisercraft this week. You don't have to use them but if you own some, we'd love to see them on your projects!
I used a pretty rose image from a clear set called, Honey Chai. Unfortunately this set is no longer available for purchase but Kaisercraft has some wonderful stamp sets here.
I embossed my cardbase with the, Cross My Heart Cuttlebug embossing folder.
The rose was colored with Copics, fussy cut, then adhered to my die-cut panel with dimensional adhesive. For some added bling, I die-cut another Wonky Rectangle out of some pretty glitter paper and decided to offset both panels for a different look. I needed a bit more bling, so I added a few gems. The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp's Friendship Messages set.
As always, there is a generous, $50.00 gift voucher to the Simon Says Stamp Store for one lucky random winner of this week's challenge!
I hope you'll join us this week! I'm looking forward to seeing your "blingy" projects!
Thank so much for stopping by! ♥
