My favorite cards of 2013

As I have done in past years, I'd like to have an end-of-the-year post where I bring back my favorite cards from this year.

2013 has been a year of change!  Many of our favorite print magazines have gone digital, leaving a big void for me.  Our beloved Cath Edvalson stepped down from her Moxie Fab World column and a huge source of my inspiration went with her.  The Craft's Meow stamp company closed its doors, as did one of my favorite challenges, the Play Date Cafe.  But life is nothing but change, so we adjust and go on.  One thing that has not changed, evidenced by what you'll see below, is my love of all things floral.

I've chosen a favorite or two from each month - hope you enjoy walking down memory lane with me!  You can click on each picture to be taken back to the post where that card was featured, if you need any details.

January

This was for a Simon Says Stamp challenge, using my all-time favorite Penny Black flower stamp.

February

For a Splitcoast Stampers challenge, I die-cut some flowers from felt:

March

This one uses masking and stamps from the Simon March Card Kit.

And for a chevron challenge at Moxie Fab World:

April

This card uses a gorgeous Anna Griffin embossing folder - I loved it so much I made 4 different versions of this card with it.

I included this one just to break up all the flowers you'll be seeing here;  isn't this a pretty stamp?

May

I loved making this - it was for a CASE Study challenge, and I tried to use as many forms of dots as I could.

This was made to debut a new The Craft's Meow chalkboard set.

June

Here's one using Penny Black stamps; that Indian Wheel background is so versatile!

Lilacs are a sentimental favorite of mine, and I really like how this one turned out!

July

I had lots of fun making this for our Hero Arts Hostess Blog Hop - our theme was Summer Picnic!



I love color so much that I don't often do anything just black and white, but I chose to include this card because I love every single element on it!  The sweet silhouette and sentiment are by Flourishes, as is the floral strip.



August

I embraced washi tapes this year, and love the mix of them with this beautiful stamp designed by Clare Buswell, for The Craft's Meow.



Here's a one-layer card that won me a prize in a Hero Arts challenge



September

Another one-layer design that was so simple to do, but I love how it turned out!



I used a favorite Hero Arts background stamp for this one - love the shades of blue here!



October

More washi tape, for a breast cancer awareness card drive at SplitCoast Stampers.



These beautiful leaves are Clearly Besotted stamps, and I played with ink splattering on this card.



November

I had such fun making this one; the panel used a snowflake stencil and several distress inks - love the color!



I made this for Cath Edvalson for her farewell Moxie Fab World blog hop.  I miss her so much!



For this card I started with a panel of white cardstock and built up the colors and layers, inspired by a  discontinued designer paper.


and here we are back around to December!

These Penny Black birds stole my heart, and I love the snowflakes dies they gave us this year, too!



More snowflakes here.  This uses all Simon Says Stamp exclusives.



I'd love to spend some time in this little cottage - it looks so warm and cozy!  These birch tree and cardinal dies were used for many of my Christmas cards this year!

Thanks for bearing with me for this long post.  Is there a card here that is your favorite?  I'd love to hear what you think.

In the past, when doors close, I have been grateful for the new ones that open and the opportunities that I'm given to share this love of cardmaking.  Can't wait to see what 2014 holds for all of us!  Happy New Year to all of you; thank you so much for coming to visit, and especially for your kind comments.

Do you do a similar post with your own card favorites?  Leave me a comment and I'll come visit you!