Come and Play and a BIG Giveaway!

Hi there!

As many of you know, I am the administrator for the Simon Says Stamp Flickr group.

I love doing it and spend lots of time over there, checking out the cards added to the group pool and commenting on cards entered into the challenges there. That's right! Simon Says Stamp has a Flickr challenge every other week in their group. You can check out the newest one here.

Note: You will not be able to see the challenge on the left sidebar from the Flickr App on your mobile device. I wish they would change that but it hasn't happened yet. So, you either need to type flickr.com/groups/simonsaysstamp into your web browser on your phone, or use your computer to check it out. 

There is always a fabulous prize given out to a random winner but this time, two people will be chosen to win! The challenge this week is "Spots-n-Dots" and we already have some awesome cards coming in! You can check them out here.

I am also on Instagram and Twitter a lot, so if you want to be reminded of the challenges, you can follow me here on Instagram and here on Twitter. 

And just so you know, with each challenge, I choose 4 or 5 cards entered and share them on Instagram. Then, Simon Says Stamp always re-posts it on their Instagram feed, so there's a chance for your card to be showcased there too! (They have more than 11,000 followers!)
  
GIVEAWAY:
It's been a long time since I've had a giveaway on my blog. I've been so blessed because of this awesome hobby of ours and it's time I give back. I will choose one random winner from all the comments below to win a $100.00 gift voucher to the Simon Says Stamp online store! (That is from me personally, not SSS.)

Here's what I want you to do to be entered into the giveaway. Head over to the Simon Says Stamp Flickr group and become a member if you're not already, then let me know you've done that in a comment below. (If you are already a member of their Flickr group, let me know that instead.) Also, please copy the Flickr graphic above and paste it on the sidebar of your blog, then let me know you did that too, in your SAME comment. If you do not have a blog, you can share the graphic on Instagram, Twitter, or your Flickr photostream, but please share that in your comment with a link, so I can check it out. 

You have until 11:59PM CST, on Sunday, January 25, 2015 to enter. I will announce the winner the next day, here on my blog.

I would love to see lots of you checking out the SSS Flickr challenges and playing along!

I'm hoping to be back soon with a few cards to share! Thanks for the visit! ♥

GIVEAWAY CLOSED

It's Been A Creative Year!

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!!!! ♥♥♥