This Year in Cards: Top 10 of 2015

After a long December hiatus, I hit the craft room  running this week.  There are tons of fun things happening over at StampNation this month of January as we're preparing for a big birthday celebration. StampNation is turning 5 years old on the 11th and that's cause to partay!!!    If you're not a member yet, this would be the perfect time to join in. This birthday bash is going to be exciting, challenging, motivating and just the inspiration a cardmaker needs to bounce back from all the Christmas card hubbub. I'll be posting some sneak peeks soon so be sure to check back.  You can also click -->HERE<-- for more information on what StampNation has to offer.  

I'm also excited to announce that Catherine Pooler and the design team are hard at work preparing for the big reveal of the 3rd Stamp of Approval box that is slated for release the last week in January.  Make sure you're on the list for email notification, so you can be one of the first to know when it's up for sale.  There are limited quantities and I wouldn't want you to miss out.  Click -->HERE<-- to find out how to get your name on the mailing list!

Now, as promised, here are my Top 10 cards of 2015.  This wasn't easy as I made almost 250 cards last year.  So instead of the impossible task of choosing my favorite cards, I decided to choose my top 10 favorite techniques used on my cards in 2015.  Here we go....

1.  Painting with water colors.

2. Layered diecut scenes.

3.  Watercoloring with Distress Ink.

4.  Using positive and negative diecuts.

5.  Using Distress markers to color images.

6.  Loading up with diecut flowers.

7.  Bokeh and altering stamped images. (2 for 1 on this card!)

8.  Shaker cards, shaker cards and MORE shaker cards!!!

9.  Distress inks over embossed images.

10.  Stenciling and using Kuretake real brush watercolors. (another bonus!)

There you go!  10 cards with a couple extra techniques thrown in for fun.  ;)  Happy new year everyone!  May 2016 be joyous, prosperous and your most creative year ever!!!

Saying goodbye to my friend....2015.

Hi everyone!  My bad!  I hope you don't mind that I took about a month off from my blog in order to focus on family and the holidays.  Well, I made it through and am finally getting back to some sense of normalcy.  Although, shhhhhh..... I must admit, my Christmas tree is still up and shining bright.  The thought of taking it down just makes me really sad.  I really enjoyed having it around this year and I think I'm going to miss it twinkling next to my desk while I'm working.

Now, even though I haven't said goodbye to my Christmas tree yet, I think it's time to quit procrastinating and say goodbye to this wonderful year

2015

  A year of fun and great memories.  New adventures and new opportunities.  New aspirations and new conquests.

My best friend in the whole world got married in May:

The love of my life took me soaring to new heights:

I turned the big 5-0in August and actually survived:

Shortly after that BIG day, I started my journey to better health by losing 40 lbs....and my husband set up this awesome home gym for me.

My BFF flew up on her broom for a visit in October!!  We got to see each other 2 times in one year....what a treat!!

October also brought me my first design team gig.  It was such an honor and dream of mine to be asked by Catherine Pooler, to guest design and then ultimately chosen to join the Dream Team over at StampNation.  I couldn't have dreamed of a more awesome and talented bunch of ladies to work with.  Check them out -->HERE<--  Along with being top notch designers for StampNation, they also have some fun blogs to follow. 

December brought a whirlwind of Holiday Magic at StampNation and in my kitchen.

Well that about wraps it up for me.  Time to take down that tree and get ready for a fun new year.  Thanks for letting me share 2015 with you and I hope you'll stick around for some more awesome cards and crafting fun in the coming year.  My next blog post will be a special This Year in Cards: Top 10.

Happy New Year!!

More Holiday Magic snowflakes and a chance to win the Next Stamp of Approval box!

Hello everyone.  I'm still plugging away on Christmas cards and I wanted to share a couple more that I made with the the Stamp of Approval Holiday Magic Collection.  I just can't get enough of those awesome snowflake dies and stamp sets. 

For this first one I embossed the red cardstock with white embossing powder using CAS-ual Fridays Bring on the Snowflakes stamp set.  I used the coordinating Funky Flakes dies in red for the bottom half of the card.  There's that fabulous candy cane border again from Winnie & Walter's Scenery: Holiday Trimmings stamp set.  That is still my absolute favorite stamp in that collection.  I finished off this card with a sentiment from CAS-ual Friday's Snowy Sayings stamp set and a few clear sequins scattered randomly.  Seriously, check out the detail in these snowflakes!!

This next snowflake card is featuring some layered Funky Flakes dies in white and silver sparkle cardstock.  The background was made using a border stamp from the Snowy Sayings stamp set along with the sentiment from the same set.

I have had so much fun with this Stamp of Approval Holiday Magic collection that I'm just chompin' at the bit to get my hands on that next box in January.  This time the fabulous Catherine Pooler is offering up a way to win one before they even go on sale.  Don't miss out on this awesome opportunity!

 Just click on the above photo and head on over to Catherine Pooler's blog  to check out the details on how you can enter for your chance to win the next Stamp of Approval box!  Good luck!  And Happy Holidays!

Traditional Colors for Christmas

Hi everyone. I'm posting a few cards today that I made showcasing the beauty of red and green.   I admit, when I make my Christmas cards I very rarely stray from traditional colors.  I love red and green and I think when they're mixed with more neutral colors like black, white or beige they really stand out on a card.  

For this card I started with the Stitched Woodgrain Cover Up die from Lil' Inker Designs. It makes a beautiful background in Simon Says Stamp's  Khaki cardstock.  I stenciled the tags using white Gesso medium and Sizzix Tim Holtz Holiday Knit stencil. The sentiment is Cas-ual Friday's Snowy Sayings from the Stamp of Approval's Holiday Magic Collection.   I topped it off with my favorite WPlus9 reindeer from the Stag Trio die set.

Here's a close up.  Doesn't the red and green look gorgeous with the natural colored twine and background?

For this card I used the red and green against a white background with a bit of a gold accent with the bow.  I love this Sizzix Tattered floral die using Simon Says Stamp Schoolhouse Red cardstock and some border stamps from CAS-ual Fridays and Stamp of Approval's Holiday Magic Collection.  The Quilted Stitched Cover up die is from Lil' Inker Designs.

And just because you use traditional colors doesn't mean you can't add a little whimsy to your cards.  I thought this card turned out cute using My Favorite Things Christmas Tree Cutout die.  I accented it with some gold string and gold foil cardstock.  For the background I used Lil' Inker's Stitched Mats: Rectangles and Border Builders die sets.

Well this is the week I mail out all of my cards to friends and family.  I didn't make any duplicates this year which was a first for me. I was able to come up with 50 different card designs and  I owe it all to Stamp Nation.  They really pulled out all the stops over there with their CASE-ing Christmas class in November and their December challenges.  There was just so much wonderful inspiration at Stamp Nation and it really inspired me to try some new designs and techniques.  If you're not a member yet I encourage you to stop over and sign up today.  I can promise 2016 will be loaded with more inspiring projects from Catherine Pooler and the Dream Team.

Have a great day everyone!

Quick!! A chance to win Stamp of Approval Holiday Magic!!

How exciting is this?  Catherine Pooler has an extra box of Holiday Magic she's going to give away to one lucky winner over at her blog.  Just head on over and leave her a comment for your chance to win but you have to act fast.  She's picking a lucky winner tomorrow, Friday, December 4th.  Here's your chance to win a Christmas present for you!

Good luck!!

Rylee's first CASE

Hi everyone.  I'm just stopping by to share a little card that was made by someone very special.  When my 9 year old niece Rylee comes over to spend a weekend with me, we always make a little time to make cards.  She draws a lot of her inspiration from card videos.  We curl up in my chair and we tune into various videos around the web to soak in some new ideas and techniques that she may want to try.  Then we hit the craft room so she can get her hands dirty! LOL!

This weekend we headed over to StampNation to soak in some of the awesome CASE-ing Christmas class videos.  She learned what CASE means (Copy And Share Everything) and she learned the whole philosophy of CASEing another person's card.   It was great for her to see all of those CASEings in action and she was so excited to try her hand at it.  So, we headed off to my craft room and she started by picking out one of my Christmas cards to CASE.  I let her have free reign with her creation and I was delighted with the results.  Here's her adorable card:

Here is her card next to the card she chose to CASE.  You can see some similarities in the colors and the bear but she was very good at changing some of the elements to make this card her own creation.

I think what impressed me the most about her creation is that she wanted to incorporate the stripes from the scarf on my bear but her bear didn't have a scarf.  Instead she created her own striped design on the bear's sweater.  She is really getting good at thinking outside the box and I'm so proud of her.  Great job Rylee!!

Have a great day!!

Black Friday and that oh so gorgeous red cup.

Hey my friends!  Just wanted to give you the heads up on a freebie.  Catherine Pooler has a black Friday freebie for all her email subscribers coming up that I thought you might like.   Who can say no to free right?  Go --------> HERE to watch her video about it or click on the image blow to sign up today!

There's the black and here's the red!  Who says a red cup can't be festive?  Cheers!!

Clean and simple on the outside with a little white embossing to make the snowy background.  That solid red Coffee Cup die from My Favorite Things and the Joy Word die from Lil' Inker Designs really stands out against the light colored background.  This color combination of  light blue and red has always been one of my favorites.  Of course I wanted to include a gift card so I needed to spread some of the cheer on the inside also,  with some snow and a sentiment to coordinate with the front.

I used the following supplies from:

Lil' Inker Designs:

Border Builder Dies

Stitched Flag Die

Joy Word Die

Snowflake Dies

Stitched Stars Dies

Instant Camera Christmas stamp set

Jolly & Joyful Sentiments stamps

My Favorite Things:

Blueprints #15 Die-Namics

Coffee Cup Die-Namics

Perk Up stamp set

Confetti Background stamp

I also used:

Inks: Hero Arts Pale Tomato, Versafine Onyx Black, Versamark Clear

Simon Says Stamp cardstock:  sea glass, lipstick red and green leaf

silver foil cardstock, white embossing powder, silver tag twine.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

This week in cards - Being Thankful

Thanksgiving is right around the corner so I spent this week thinking about all those people who live far away from me and how grateful I am to have them in my lives.

And remember this one?  I made this for a challenge while I was guest designing over at Stamp Nation last month.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Star of the Show Challenge - Lil' Inker Designs

Lil' Inker Designs has a fun challenge going on over on their blog this month..

Since I'm still working on my Christmas cards....and I always love breaking into my LID stash I figured what the hay!  I jumped on the star theme and added some silver sparkle cardstock.  I also decided to coordinate that gorgeous navy into the design.  I love this color combination, keeping it clean and simple.  I'm still on my 4.25" card kick as you can see.  I don't know why but this size card has really been appealing to me this year for my Christmas cards.

For this card I used the following supplies from:

Lil' Inker Designs

Stitched Stars dies

Stitched Mats: Rectangles dies

Border Builders dies

Jolly & Joyful stamp set

Winter Greetings stamp set

I also used:

My Favorite Things Silver Sparkle cardstock, Simon Says Stamp Soft Navy cardstock, Versamark clear ink, Ranger Silver embossing powder, silver ribbon, silver sequins

I just want to throw in one more card today.  This one is actually one I made for a StampNation CASEing Christmas Challenge but I used all Lil'Inker Designs stamps and dies.  I thought it turned out cute and it's my first time using this adorable little Santa stamp set.  It also gave me a chance to play with my Zig Real Brush markers.

For this card I used the following supplies from:

Lil' Inker Designs

Christmas Bits dies

Jolly Word die

Dear Santa stamp set

Simon Says Stamp

Be word die

I also used:

Wink of Stella glitter pen, Versamark clear ink, Wow Superfine embossing powder, Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Be sure to stop back again soon.  I'll be posting more Christmas cards before the end of the month.  Have a great day!

This week in cards: CASEing Christmas at StampNation

  This week I'm  having a blast with my sistahs over at StampNation playing along in their CASEing Christmas event.  The inspiration is phenomenal!  Each day thru November 11th,  the designers are posting a video of a CASE (Copy And Share Everything) and  explain how they are inspired by each others cards.  They show you how to CASE a card but put your own spin on it.   It's an awesome way to stretch your imagination while being inspired by your fellow cardmaking friends.  Want to play along? Stop on over to StampNation.  We'd love to see what you can do!

Earlier in the week I showed you this card that I made from Day #1 in the CASEing Christmas Series.  I used inspiration from Catherine Pooler's card.

Day #2 I pulled inspiration from a card by Maureen Merritt and made this card using that fabulous Village Die from Simon Says Stamp and the gorgeous Holiday Lyrics sentiment stamp by The Ton.

I loved it so much, I made two!  I fell in love with her background using an embossed resist and ink blending technique using Ranger Distress Inks.

Day #3 it's inspiration from Catherine Pooler again.  Her card had so many fun colors so I pulled those into my card along with this awesome Woodland Wreaths stamp and die set by WPlus9.

Day #4 Heather North rocked an awesome combination of navy and white and I just couldn't resist CASEing her card using CAS-ual Fridays Funky Flakes dies from Stamp of Approval's Holiday Magic Collection.  Here's what I came up with.

Day #5 I was inspired by a cute little card by Catherine Pooler again.  In her video she showed us how to make our own glitter paper background.  Isn't this little polar bear from My Favorite Things Cool Day stamp set adorable?

Are you noticing a theme to my cards this week?  I'm completely stuck on making 4.25" square cards for some reason.  They have been so easy to work with and I thought they would be cute to use with my Christmas gifts in place of tags.   So here are a couple more......just for fun!

Check out that awesome textured background using Gesso medium and a Stampers Anonymous stencil!

And then there's this really cool Ring Wreath die from Simon Says Stamp that fits perfectly onto a 4.25" square card.

I know this was a super long post today but I just had so much fun making cards this week. Learning how to CASE a card really does make cardmaking so much simpler and more fun.  Remember, if you find a card that is truly inspirational and want to CASE it and share it, be sure to acknowledge the original designer for their inspiration. It's the NICE thing to do.  ;)   Hope to see you over at StampNation real soon!!

The Simple Beauty of Scribble Roses

I have a few different layered roses stamp sets but I have to say, none of them are as easy to work with as this beautiful Scribble Roses set by My Favorite Things.  I had a great time stamping this  floral background and I'm proud to say this was my very first try at it and NO do-overs!  Wooohoo!  There is definitely a forgiving quality about scribbles.  Stamping the lines just a little off actually adds to the whimsical look of these stamps.  

First I stamped the solid base of the flowers using two slightly different colors of pink.  I wanted the roses to have a two tone affect around the edges so after I inked up with the lighter pink, I did some rocking and rolling around the edges with the darker pink.  This added just a little touch of shadow around the edges.  Since this is a birthday card I wanted to keep the colors bright and fun.  I used a darling little stamp that came in the Stamp of Approval Friendship box: CAS-ual Fridays Eva's Favorite Flowers to fill in the areas between the roses.

 For this card I used:  

Scribble Roses Stamp set and Label Maker Sentiments (My Favorite Things)
Friend frie-die and Eva's Favorite Flowers Stamps set (CAS-ual Fridays and the Stamp of Approval Friendship Collection)
On The Diagonal Die and Stitched Mats: Rectangles (Lil' Inker Designs)
Inks:  lime green, field greens, ultra pink, soft pink (Hero Arts Shadow Inks),  pink lemonade (My Favorite Things), onyx black (Versafine), 
I also used:  doll pink cardstock (Simon Says Stamp), White 110 lb. cardstock (Neenah), silver and pink sequins.


The coordinating Scribble Roses Overlay from My Favorite Things is also so cool!  And one layer just didn't do it for me.  I wanted lots of "scribbles"!   First I stamped the base in ultra pink and then glued a layer of scribble diecuts in cotton candy cardstock, followed by a layer cut out of white.  I scribbled the heck out of these roses!!

For this card I used:  
Scribble Roses Stamps, Scribble Roses Overlay, Thanks so Very Much Stamps (My Favorite Things)
Inks:  ultra pink, lime green, field greens (Hero Arts Shadow Inks), onyx black (Versafine)
I also used:  Believe paper collection (Heidi Swapp), cotton candy cardstock (Simon Says Stamp) white 110 lb cardstock (Neenah)

Thanks for stopping by!

CASEing cards for Christmas

Happy November everyone!  I don't know about you but I just can't believe we're in our 11th month of 2015 already.  Where, oh where has the time gone?  My guest designing stint over at StampNation has ended.  I had a blast creating some fun cards for World Cardmaking Day, weekly challenges and for that awesome Stamp of Approval Holiday Magic Collection.  I am still going strong with those supplies.   Through the month of November I plan on cranking out about 30 more Christmas cards so I can get them mailed by the first week in December to my friends and family.  So keep checking back because I'll be throwing them up here on my blog all month long.

This is also going to be a fun month over at StampNation.  This week they started posting some new, awesome inspiration challenges in a series called CASEing Christmas.  CASE stands for; Copy And Share Everthing.  You basically lift all of the elements you find appealing in the inspiration card and make it your own.  This is a Christmas series so I am so excited to get some new ideas for my 2015 Christmas cards.  Did you know you can look at a birthday card and by CASEing it you can turn it into a Christmas Card?  Now that's some real Holiday Magic!!  ;)  Check out this sneak peek of the inspiration this week.  Isn't it gorgeous??

Catherine Pooler posted a video for StampNation members also.  It gives you lots of  great tips on CASEing.  And wowee, her cards are awesome!!

Here's my CASE! 

I used the following supplies from:

Stamp of Approval Holiday Magic Collection:

CAS-ual Fridays Snowy Sayings Stamp set

Neat & Tangled Bright Baubles Stamp set and Little Bits Dies

Inkadinkado: Branches Stamp set

I also used:

Ranger Distress Inks:  Cracked Pistachio, Crushed Olive

Hero Arts Shadow Inks:  Forever Green, Red Royal

Versafine:  Onyx Black

Versamark clear embossing ink

Recollections: Glitz embossing powder/glitter

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope to see you over at Stamp Nation soon!