Saturday, December 29, 2012

2012 IN REVIEW

"Doodle.Suze", a VERY gifted cardmaker/craftswoman, posted in the Hero Arts Flickr Group  the idea of creating a recap of your favorite cards from 2012. When I looked through all the cards posted on my blog, I realized how few posts I actually had, but I had made LOTS of cards! That realization has inspired me to set a goal of making my blog more "active" in 2013!!!  Anyhoo, here's my blog recap of favorite cards posted. The date above each card contains a link to the actual blog post for details on the card....if you're interested:


This card was inspired by the very talented Jennifer McGuire. I am so grateful for her inspiration!



Jacqueline, another extremely gifted crafter (be sure and check out her blog!) was generous enough to share some wine labels she had received from her son. This was the very first card I made with the wine label....and then I was hooked!!



Yep....another wine label card! I think that's all I made during the month of March! Told 'ya I was hooked!! ;D


This was an extremely simple card that I made for someone very dear to me who was going through a very difficult time. I loved the simple beauty of this card!

MAY 2012

I'm cheating and choosing 2 cards for the month of May. Apparently, that was the month that my mojo level was the highest!


I made this card for a 90-minute scramble on the Hero Arts Flickr group. I love participating in these challenges when I'm able. The fact that you have only 90 minutes to create a card based on a particular theme or idea makes ya think pretty fast!! Some of my scramble projects I've been pleased with....some would never get posted!! :D


I think this card happens to be one of my all-time favorites. I had recently purchased a Silhouette Cameo and was having a blast playing with it. When this butterfly card was completed and I took a photo of it, I was amazed with how it looked. It almost seems like there's a light shining behind it, but there's not! The coloring turned out amazing! I don't know that I could ever re-create it....


This card was made after I finally caught on to the washi tape craze. Apparently, it had been the new craze for a while, but I was a little slow "hopping on the bus"! For this card, I actually made my own washi tape...since I didn't actually own any of the "real thing" yet.


My husband LOVES to fly fish. I almost always make a fishing themed card for him for his birthday. I ran across someone who made wood die cuts and had offered this fish about ready to latch on to a fly. I colored the fish with my Distress Markers. I had tons of fun making this card, and my husband was very pleased with it!!


I love the textures of this card! I combined the use of my Silhouette Cameo and patterned papers.....a great combo!!

SEPTEMBER 2012

I finally purchased a "button bits" stamp set from PTI. These sets are so much fun in the way that they are designed to be used specifically with buttons. After I purchased this stamp set, I also purchased a semi-truck load of buttons.....it seems anyway!

OCTOBER 2012

I got a jump-start on my Christmas cards this year....first time EVER!!! I made several of these cards using my Silhouette to cut out all the pieces. What a time-saver!!!!

NOVEMBER 2012

PaperCraft magazine has a HUGE challenge every year for World Card Making Day (in October). This was the first year I decided to enter some cards.....along with thousands of other ENORMOUSLY talented crafters. This card wasn't a winner, but I'm happy with it anyway!

DECEMBER 2012

OK....so this card was actually posted in November, but I'm posting it in December for two reasons: 1. It was made for a friend who has a December birthday AND 2. I didn't post any cards in December. This post is my only December post!! (Yikes!!.....I need to remember my goal for 2013!!!)

Well, it was fun taking a walk down memory lane! Thanks for the inspiration, Suze!!! Thanks to all of you who chose to take a look!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

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Tuesday, November 27, 2012

WINTER SPARKLES

One of the visual sights I really miss from our time living in Canada is the way  the sun would reflect off the fresh snowfall and make it look like millions of tiny diamonds. Even in the bitter cold (-40F), the sun would still shine, and the sight would almost take your breath away. When I got my "Winter Trees" stamp from Hero Arts, I wanted to try and re-create that. This is what I came up with:
It was a timely process to make this card, as you had to allow for various drying times of ink, Perfect Pearls mist, and Stickles. Here's how I did it:

 First, I inked my tree stamp with HA "Stone Wash" ink and stamped onto white cardstock and trimmed it to create a thin white border. Then, I misted it with Perfect Pear Mist (Pearl). I found a coordinating piece of patterned paper that I adhered the stamped image to. Next, I rubbed a thin layer of "Frosted Lace" Stickles over everything. (When I rubbed the Stickles over the stamped image, it started "fading" the ink in spots. I LOVED the way it ended up looking, because it looked like the sky was "glowing" in spots.) I then adhered the 2 layers to my white cardstock card base.

 I cut the "Frostyville Border" out of white cardstock, then rubbed a VERY thin layer of "Faded Jeans" Stickles over it. I adhered it to the card front with Glossy Accents.

 I live in California now...in an area where we don't see snow...but this card brought back many fond memories of the beautiful - but COLD! - winters we spent in British Columbia!

 Here's my supply list:


InLinkz.com

Thanks for looking......and please come back ANY time!! ;D
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Friday, November 16, 2012

VINTAGE BIRTHDAY

Because of my procrastination...and pre-occupation with Christmas cards, I realized that I needed to get a birthday card in the mail ASAP for my nephew. After a brief moment of panic, I turned to my 6x6 patterned paper pads (my new addiction) for inspiration.I had just received the MME Lost and Found Two paper pad, so I grabbed it. The antique hot-air balloon on the paper reminded me of the "Flying Airships" stamp set by Hero Arts. That was all I needed to get my mojo going!  Here's my card:
Here's how I did it:
First, I trimmed my patterned paper into a 4.5x6" piece. I inked my "airship" stamp with Walnut Stain Distress ink and stamped it onto the 1.5" strip that I had cut off. I trimmed around the stamped image and distressed the edges with Vintage Photo distress ink and adhered it onto a solid color piece of scrap cardstock. When I decided on placement of this piece, I realized I'd be blocking part of the white opaque banner on the printed paper. So, I cut a strip of vellum, cut one edge to resemble a banner, and stamped it with my French Script stamp inked in "Sepia" Archival ink. I adhered this to the patterned paper with my ATG, then adhered the stamped image on top of it with foam tape. Before I adhered the patterned paper to by white card base, I wrapped the piece with twine and added the 3 brads. Finally, I inked my sentiment stamp and stamped it onto another scrap piece of paper, cut one end to look like a banner, and adhered it to the card base. LOVE having patterned paper on hand for these "last-minute" cards!!!

 Here's my supply list:
InLinkz.com
Thanks for looking! :D
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Friday, November 9, 2012

PAPER-PIECED MANGER

Yes, this card was also submitted for publication....and yes, this card was also    "rejected". I had a lot of fun with this card, though. Unfortunately you won't see a supply list for this card because I used up a lot of my paper scraps on it. I have NO idea where a lot of my scraps of paper came from! ;D

Here's the card:
I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut the various shapes out of various patterned paper.The shapes were assembled and glued together. The kraft card base was ran through my Cuttlebug with the "swirly" embossing folder.  The manger scene was then adhered to the card base and random white dots with a white gel pen were added to the front of the card.

Thanks again for taking a peek at my blog! Come back ANY time!!
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YOUR DAY TO CELEBRATE

This card was another "reject" from my submissions to Paper Crafts magazine. 
Again, this was a very easy card, but I loved the way it turned out. Here's how I did it:

 I smeared various colors of Distress Ink over the "debossed" side of my embossing folder and lightly spritzed it with water. Then, I placed a piece of white cardstock into the folder and ran it through my Cuttlebug. I love how it just colors the flat surfaces and keeps the raised embossed area white.

 I adhered the embossed paper onto a slightly larger piece of kraft paper, and then adhered that onto a slightly larger piece of a slightly darker kraft paper. These layers were then adhered to my white card base.

 I then stamped the sentiment - with black ink - onto a banner strip and adhered it to the card. 

 Finally, I added pewter adhesive-backed metal embellishments on the sentiment and in random areas on the embossed image.

 Here's my supplies:
InLinkz.com
Thanks for looking!
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