Goodbye 2015!

Hi there!

I wanted to write one more post before the end of the year to share some recent cards I've created. I've also thrown in some other random photos - just because.

We had a wonderful Christmas with my family. We always head to my sister's house for a cozy night. Her home is filled with holiday warmth and gorgeous decor! Here's some pics from Christmas Eve.

Her family room is so cozy - just love it!

Here's the staircase in the foyer.

The living room is beautiful!

She sets a lovely table too! This is one of three.

Here I am with my three sisters, cleaning up in the kitchen after dinner.

And one of me and my hubby.

We had such a fun night! Then Christmas day was spent with our boys. Always calm and quiet and so relaxing. Of course I forgot to take pics. I guess I was too excited opening presents. Here's my favorite one, from my two sons. They are so clever, aren't they?

 I will be wearing this A LOT!!! Isn't it fun?!

I've been creating some cards lately too. Here's just a few.

Love this sweet MFT set called Adorable Elephants!

 On this one I used the ornament stamp, which is included in MFT's Santa's Elves stamp set.

The rest of the cards use Simon Says Stamp exclusive products, most from their DieCember release. If you have any questions, let me know in a comment.

For this last card I used the Heart Vent die from Simon Says Stamp's, newest release, You Have My Heart.

I only have two days left of work! My last day before retiring is Thursday, Dec. 31st! Ahhhhhh!!! I can't believe it's actually gonna happen! I'm excited - a little bit scared - but mostly excited. I'm looking forward to having more time to start visiting and commenting again on your blogs - I miss it! And I'm excited to have more time to create too! I'll still be running the Simon Says Stamp Flickr group, along with the challenges over there. The current one is water coloring. Would love to see you head on over to check it out!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Here's to a fabulous, crafty and creative 2016! ♥
 

It's DieCember at Simon Says Stamp!

Hi there!

I'm back today with a couple of cards using a new die set from Simon Says Stamp. 

It's my second favorite crafty month of the year - DieCember - and Simon has some awesome dies to celebrate! You can check them all out right here. 

I've been playing with one of the new die sets from the release called, Single Roses and I love it!

On my first card I used Foiled Cardstock from DCWV for the roses. So simple but creates such a pretty (and shiny) effect!

This second card took me a whole lot longer. Seriously, I don't even want to admit how long I worked on this one - lol! It was so fun though using Distress Inks, to not only create the watercolor background, but to also shade my flowers. 

I decided to only add a bit of the white, positive portions of the die to give it an even more artsy feel. That fun die-cut sentiment is also from Simon Says Stamp. It was one of the products in their, "From All of Us" release last month. And I used Stickles too! Haven't done that in awhile - so fun! Here's a close-up so you can see the sparkle.

Reminder to self - Use Stickles more often! I found the easiest way to add them to the flowers was with a tiny paint brush, or just spread the Stickles on with your finger.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you'll check out Simon's DieCember release! Dies are such a fun way to add beauty and dimension to our cards and most of them are cheaper than stamp sets!

Have a great day! ♥
 

Share Handmade Kindness with Strangers

Hi there!

I know it's been ages since my last post. Life is always so busy. Happy but busy.

I hope you're all doing well and gearing up to enjoy the holidays!

As you all know by now, Jennifer McGuire has been hosting a kindness campaign/challenge for a few weeks now. Well, this week is all about sharing that kindness with strangers. She has lots of different ideas on how to do this on her blog, so if you haven't checked it out, you should do so!

I've worked in customer service all my life and although it can be challenging to keep every customer happy, I have learned that extra kindness goes a long way. I find little ways to do this all the time. A couple of examples would be when I mention how pretty a lady's blouse is, or I tell a gentleman I like his tie. One of my favorite things to do is to blow up a balloon and give it to a child who's shopping in the store with their mom or dad. It's those small gestures or comments that can really help make someone's day brighter.

So I got thinking about Jennifer's kindness challenge  and it made me realize I can do even more. I mean, I create handmade cards almost every day, so why not share those with strangers too! I decided to make lots of cards, all with the same simple, easy design. Here's a few of them.

Many times, when the store gets busy, I head up to the front and help with checking out the customers, so I'm planning on sneaking the cards into customer's grocery bags! How fun is that?! I wrote a little note inside, telling the recipient that I hope the card puts a smile on their face.

I hope you can also think of a way to share handmade kindness with strangers this week. We all know our world could use lots more of it!

I'd also like to wish a very Happy Thanksgiving to my American crafty friends! Wishing you all a wonderful day, filled with love, laughter and lots of yummy food! We'll be heading to my brother's cabin, about an hour north of here. Should be a beautiful, cozy day by the lake and I'm really looking forward to it! :)

Thanks for stopping by! ♥
 

Masking and Copics World Card Making Day!

Hi there!

I had every intention of sitting down to create a few cards for World Card Making Day but life sure can get in the way! Between cleaning the house before friends stopped over, running errands and watching a few videos on Periscope, I ended up only making one card. But I do love how it turned out and really enjoyed the process!

I've always loved masking, along with the results you get from this technique, but I have trouble with the patience it takes to use it too often. Reminder to self . . . . use it more often!

I'm in love with this beautiful Addie's Garden set from Winnie and Walter! The images are so fun to color. I used Copics, by the way. And that big "Hugs" stamp? That's from Simon Says Stamp. It's included in their, Best Hugs set.

I have to thank my good friend, Kelly Latevola for her awesome talent! I love watching her videos and have learned so much about masking and coloring from her! If you don't follow her blog, Instagram, You Tube, Periscope, etc, you should - she's amazing!

Short and sweet tonight. Hope you all had time to create something today! Happy World Card Making Day! ♥
 

Online Card Class

Hi there! 

The newest online card class is called, Watercolor For Card Makers: Exploring Mediums and am I ever glad I signed up! It gave me the courage to try some techniques that I've never had the guts to try before. . . . and I even love my results!

This first card uses no-line water coloring - eek! If that isn't a scary technique, I don't know what is! But Kristina Werner shared an easier way to do it, so that gave me the push I needed to try. 

I used Simon Says Stamp's Bundle Up stamp and die set. 

Watercolor pencils are a medium I have never had much luck with either - actually, it would be more honest to say I suck at using them - lol! But once again, after watching Kristina use them in class, I gave it a try and had so much fun! 

That's one of my favorite snowmen. He's from Art Impressions. Isn't he the cutest?! And I used the Falling Snow stencil from Simon Says Stamp for the background. 

Okay, one more. I also loved Dawn's video! Oh my goodness! Can that girl watercolor or what?! She has some amazing talent! So, out came my Gansai Tambi watercolors to use on these pretty Altenew flowers.

 I love the loose watercolor technique, letting some lighter shades spill out past the images.

I'm looking forward to Wrap-Up day in class. They always share more fun, and usually another video or two, or three, or . . . .

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend! ♥

More STAMPtember Fun!

Hi there!

I hope you're all doing well! 

I was off work all last week and caught a nasty bug which gave me a sinus infection and bronchitis. I finished a round of antibiotics and am feeling better but wishing this cough would go away! Ya know what it's like when ya cough so much that it feels like you've pulled every muscle in your torso, front and back? Yup, that's me - yuk!

Anyway, when I started feeling better at the end of the weekend, I was really itching to create with some more of my STAMPtember goodies. 

Seriously, is this not the cutest stamp and die set EVER!? It is so fun to color and play with! The new Stitched Ovals die set worked perfectly with it too! We have quite a few friends who live in warm climates during the winter months, so this set will be perfect for their Christmas cards!

And then there's the gorgeous, Stitched Grand Maple die! I loved inking it up with Distress Inks and using the inlaid die technique to create this quick and easy card. That Big Hugs die is also from Simon Says Stamp. I know I'll be using that one on a lot of cards!

That's it for me tonight. I hope everyone is having a great week and finding time to create! Thanks for stopping by! ♥
 

IT'S STAMPTEMBER!!!

Hi everyone!

Are you as excited as I am for this month? It's a celebration of the love of stamping and it begins right now with a fabulous new release from Simon Says Stamp! It's STAMPtember and a ton of new products were just released, with more to come throughout the month.

You can check out their first blog post of the month right here. And then don't forget to stop by the Simon Says Stamp blog each and every day throughout the month for more new products, special guest designers, prizes, surprises, inspiration, education, tons of fun and a total celebration of this awesome hobby of ours!

I was lucky enough to receive a few of the new products to play with and made some cards to share. The first three cards were created using the Stitched Daisies Die set and oh, how I love it!

Here's a close-up of the red and white one.

I love how you can color them any shade with any coloring medium. These were all colored with Copics.

And another close-up.
 

This next card was created using a sweet, little stamp set called, Hello Friend.

And there's one more I want to show you - this stunning, intricate die called, Merry Christmas Ornament. I haven't put it on a card yet but wanted to share the beauty of it when cut from gold glitter paper.

Isn't that gorgeous!?

One more thing - Simon's Flickr group is hosting a challenge which ends Thursday morning, but if you enter a card over there, you could win one of two STAMPtember prize packages!! So fun!

Okay, that's it. Head on over to Simon Says Stamp to see all the new products - there are a ton of them. I already placed an order and can't WAIT to get my new goodies!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy STAMPtember!!! ♥
 

I'm Still Alive!

Hi there!

I know it's been forever again since my last post and I want to thank those of you who left comments, sent messages, and emails to ask where I've been. I've been here - well, not right here at my blog, but I'm around on the web all the time. Mostly over on Instagram, but on Flickr too, running the Simon Says Stamp group over there. I love doing that but it takes up a lot of my time. 

I have also been visiting many of your blogs, looking at everyone's amazing creativity but I just don't always have time to comment and I feel so bad about that! It's something that I really love doing and I miss it!

I've been very busy with work, family life and gearing up toward retirement too. There is so much to think about and do when planning to retire. It's scary and exciting all at the same time. My hubby and I will both be officially retired at the end of this year, and I know I'll have more time then, to get back to commenting more on all of your wonderful blogs. Can't WAIT!

Anyway, I've also been creating. . . . .A LOT! No, really I have! Here's the proof:

Love this stamp by Clearly Besotted! Lots of water coloring on this one.

Another Clearly Besotted image - this time colored with Copics.

Here's a beautiful image from Penny Black - water coloring again.

And another Penny Black image, colored with Copics.

LOVE the Crazy Birds set by Tim Holtz! I used a Simon Says Stamp die-cut as a stencil to create a fun background for this funny guy!

These are all little stamps by Art Impressions and they are soooo fun to watercolor!

More pots with flowers but this time from WPlus9. I stamped and die-cut the flowers and colored the pots with Copics. 

Last one. Love the "shadow technique!" Stamped these adorable flowers, by Simon Says Stamp, first in white pigment ink, then over top of that with Audrey Blue ink from SSS. Love the look on kraft cardstock!

Sorry no links to products but if you have any questions, just let me know!

Thanks for stopping by! I always appreciate your visits and comments! ♥