A Look Back.......My Favorite Cards of 2015

It's been my habit in past years to do a post at the end of the year showing my personal favorites of the cards I've made that year.  If you need any information for any card, just click on it and you'll be taken back to its original post.  This year I chose just one card from each month.......

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

As you can see, this year I fell in love with the beautiful multi-step flowers of Altenew, and used lots more dies.  But overall, I'm still a flower girl.

 Do you do a similar post with your own favorites?  If so, leave me a link in your comment, and I'll come visit you......

Thanks to all of you who visit me and leave comments.  Commenting is on the decline, and so I truly treasure those that I receive.  Wishing you all a happy, healthy and creative 2016!

Simon Says........Party!

It's time for our last challenge of the year at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge blog!

Happy New Year!  Our theme this last challenge of 2015 is Party!  I made 2 New Years cards, one glitzy and one more colorful:

Supplies: black, gold and silver glitter cardstock, DieNamics Happy die, Hero Arts Alphabet dies, gold and silver sequins

Those sequins can represent either champagne bubbles or confetti!

This one is a little more colorful:

supplies: aqua and white cardstock, "confetti" design paper from an old American Crafts pad, DieNamics Happy die, Winnie & Walter Big, Bold & Happy sentiment stamps, Simon Moonshine sequins

Now it's your turn!  We have a $50.00 gift voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store for one lucky random winner of our challenge!

Do you use Instagram?  If you do, we'd love you to add #ssswchallenge to your challenge entry uploads so we can see them on there, too!

Just a Note

I finally have the die being featured at Wplus9's monthly Throwback Thursday challenge!  Here's the card I made using it.

supplies: pink and white cardstock, dps from Pebbles Garden Party pad, Wplus9 Quilt Cuts 2 die and Doodle Buds sentiment, tiny pink heart button, Spellbinders Scalloped Rectangles die, cut into a square, Winnie & Walter Audrey Cutaways scalloped panel

I CASEd Maureen's last card.  This tiny little star quilt block is so fun to work with, and the prints in the paper pad were just the right size for it!  Anytime I get to play with paper quilts is a good day, and this sentiment is one I use often when I'm sending out a card.

As always, thanks for visiting!

Merry Christmas......from our home to yours!

Just got this darling Winnie & Walter stamp set called Happiest of Holidays, along with some of their In a Word dies, so I combined them for this last Christmas card of 2015.

supplies: white and red cardstock, Winnie & Walter Happiest of Holidays, Winter Woodland, In a Word: Merry and Audrey Cutaways, Spectrum Noir markers, Simon Says Stamp Falling Snow stencil, texture paste

I'll take this opportunity to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas!  Hope you can spend it with those that you love!

Simon Says..........Make it Sparkle!

It's Wednesday and that means a new challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog!

This week our theme is "Make it Sparkle!"  My teamies and I are showcasing Technique Tuesday products.  

It was nice to use something non-holiday for a change, and I chose my favorite blue to color it.

supplies: white and blue glitter cardstock, Technique Tuesday Agapanthus clear stamp set, Spectrum Noir markers TB3 and CG2, shaded with colored pencils in the same tones, Signo white gel pen, Wink of Stella clear pen, scalloped dies, Pretty Pink Posh Sparkle Clear sequins

I added my sparkle using the glitter paper frame, Wink of Stella on the flowers, and some sparkly sequins in their centers.

Now it's your turn!  I can't wait to see what you make!  We have a $50.00 gift voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store for one lucky random winner of our challenge!

Do you use Instagram?  If you do, we'd love you to add #ssswchallenge to your challenge entry uploads so we can see them on there, too!

I Hope Santa Spoils You Rotten!

Here's a last minute entry to My Favorite Things' current sketch challenge.  I got their Santa's Elves stamps a month or so ago, and haven't used them nearly enough!

supplies: cream, teal and red cardstock, an ancient design paper "Twas the Night Before Christmas" text, MFT Santa's Elves stamps, markers to color, glue pen and glitter, snowflake sequins

The tree is paper-pieced.

This is the sketch:

Hugs and Love

The colors chosen this time for MFT's Color Challenge are some of my favorites, so I thought I'd give them a go!  I used their Scribble Flowers Overlay dies.

supplies: lavender/blue, aqua, green, and white cardstock, MFT Scribble Roses Overlay dies, leaves from Essentials by Ellen Bold Blossoms dies, Simon's Sending die, sentiment from Hero Arts Prayers stamp set, Winnie & Walter Audrey cutaway, green sequins

Here are the color swatches:

Flurries of Love

I received my Simon Says Stamp January 2016 Card Kit yesterday and had a play with it this morning!

What a fun set for winter!  Here's my card:

As you can see, I used a little of everything!  I stamped and silver embossed some of the snowflakes from the Cute Snowflakes stamp set first on a panel of Audrey Blue cardstock, then cut some of the Doodlebug design papers into strips and also added some strips of the silver glitter tape before popping the little girl and her dog above everything.  I even added a few of the Doodlebug sprinkles to the centers of some of the snowflakes.

Next up is a shaker card with all those snowflake sequins, and since my first card was so busy, this one is much simpler:

The sentiment is from one of the design papers in the kit.  My shaker box was layered between another of the design papers and a piece of acetate, separated with foam squares to give the snowflakes room to shake, and then "bound" all around with more of the silver glitter tape.

If this kit hits all your buttons, don't wait too long to order it!  

Simon Says..........Die Crazy!

It's time for a new challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge blog!

Our theme this week is Die Crazy!  I know we're all going to have fun with this one!  The Design Team are using Simon Says Stamp exclusives.  I was in a snowflake mood......

supplies: white cardstock, Simon's MaryAnne Snowflake stencil, seedless preserves, salty ocean, and peacock feathers distress inks, Simon's Eliza Snowflake and Merry & Bright dies, sequins to match

supplies: white, Green Apple, and Doll Pink cardstock, Simon's Snowflake Border and Merry & Bright dies, sequins to match

Now it's your turn!  I can't wait to see what you make!  We have a $50.00 gift voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store for one lucky random winner of our challenge!

Do you use Instagram?  If you do, we'd love you to add #ssswchallenge to your challenge entry uploads so we can see them on there, too!

Pink, Green & Gold

Seeing Kittie's tag on Day 2 of the 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist made me remember my Spellbinder's Poinsettia die, and I decided to make a pink poinsettia tag inspired by her tag and my blog header.  That picture was taken at the Cleveland Botanical Gardens when we visited their Glow display last week.  I thought these pink ones were particularly pretty.  So here's my tag:

supplies: white, pink, green and gold glitter cardstock, Spellbinder's Poinsettia die, gold pearls, Memory Box Holly Jolly Branches die, white pearls, Lawn Fawn Scripty Joy, DieNamics Stitched Tag, Hero Arts Designer Woodgrain background stamp, Wplus9 Little Piggy ink, pink hand-dyed seam binding

I think the pearls make this especially feminine!

Simon Says.......Tag It!

It's time for a new challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge blog!

Our theme this week is Tag It! and the design team are all using Tim Holtz products! I fell in love with these Woodlands tree dies the moment I saw them, and they did not disappoint!

supplies: white, dark green, red, and white glitter cardstock, Die-Namics Stitched Tag die, Sizzix/Tim Holtz Woodlands tree dies, evergreen bough and iced spruce distress inks, Perfect Pearls, Simon's Falling Snow stencil, Signo white gel pen, Tim Holtz Idea-ology Occasions stickers, Impression Obsession cardinals dies, white seam binding

I die-cut each tree from both white and dark green cardstock, and then layered the white over the green, off-setting them just a bit to allow the green to show through a bit.  My tag background was sponged with distress inks and then spritzed with Perfect Pearl water to give it some shimmer.  I used a white gel pen and the snow stencil for lots of flakes, and added a glimmery snowbank at the bottom to hold my sentiment.  I must add that those red birds were not part of the original plan, but when I was finished and photographed my tag, I felt that something was missing.....sure enough, adding these tiny pops of red made all the difference!

For my second tag, I used a pretty Holiday stencil and another of the stickers from the same book:

supplies: cream cardstock for tag, 2 DieNamics Stitched Tags dies, Tim Holtz Festive stencil, festive berries, evergreen bough, pine needles, and vintage photo distress inks, applied with Fantastix blending tool, Hero Arts Music Background cling stamp, another sentiment from Tim Holtz Idea-ology Occasions sticker, wired organza red ribbon

I stencilled my big tag first, (those Fantastix worked really well getting the different colors into the small areas), then overstamped my music background.  On the smaller tag, I just edged it with more festive berries, and then added my sticker sentiment.  Here's a closer look at it:

Now it's your turn!  I can't wait to see what you make!  We have a $50.00 gift voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store for one lucky random winner of our challenge!

Do you use Instagram?  If you do, we'd love you to add #ssswchallenge to your challenge entry uploads so we can see them on there, too!

Winter Wonderland

I FINALLY have the stamp that is being highlighted at this month's Winnie & Walter ReRun challenge!  It's their Winter Wonderland set, which has a little of everything to make lots of cards for this time of year.  There are 2 stamps in it that haven't been inked yet, so now was my chance!  I have a card and a tag to enter the challenge.   For this first card I inked up the large pine tree and built a simple winter scene with it:

supplies: white and red cardstock, Winter Wonderland set, cottage ivy, Red Royal and tumbled glass distress inks, cardinal die-cuts from Impression Obsession Birch Trees dies, Simon's Falling Snow stencil and modeling paste

Another Christmas card ready to go, nice and flat for mailing!

Now, here's a tag I made using the other previously unstamped stamp in this set, the slice of wood:

supplies: white, wheat and red cardstock, red gingham dp, WinterWonderland set, Wplus9 Hand Lettered Holiday sentiment die, natural twine, dotty red organza ribbon

Thanks for stopping by!

Black, white and gold

I haven't played along at the Color Throwdown challenge in awhile.  Though the colors are way out of my comfort zone (black hardly ever gets used around here), I thought that these colors were so elegant, and I can think of several people who I can send my card to this Christmas.

supplies: black, white, and gold glitter cardstock, Hero Arts Magical Background, versamark and Ranger gold embossing powder, Simon's Holiday Frame die, Wplus9 and Penny Black Snowflake Trio dies, gold sequins

Here's our inspiration:

And since I used glitter as a major part of my design, I'd like to enter this also into Virginia's final challenge at Virginia's View.

Thanks for stopping by!