Looking Back at My Favorite Cards from 2022

 Every year I do a little round-up of my favorite cards from the past year - it's a good way to look back and remember the year. 

If you'd like details on any of these, just click on it, and you'll be taken back to its original post.

Not as much stamping anymore, is there?  Even sentiments are dies sometimes now, and embossing folders and cover dies are used for our backgrounds.  But, as always, I'm still stuck on my flowers and birds - some things DON'T change!

Sending you my best wishes for a creative 2023!  

Floral Arches Birthday Cards

 I have 4 birthdays at the end of December, and I decided to make them all the same.  One was completed earlier this year, and here are the other 3.

supplies: white and Island Blue cardstock, The Greetery Floral Arches stamp/stencil set and matching die, Altenew Deep Blue Seas and Spring Bouquet greens mini inks,  Arched Sentiments stamps and matching die

supplies: white and purple cardstock, same supplies from The Greetery, Simon Trio 17 purple inks and Altenew Green Valley inks

supplies: white and Lipstick Red cardstock, same supplies from The Greetery, Altenew Red Sunset and Sea Shore inks, VersaMark and white embossing powder

After stencilling the arches on white cardstock and adding details with the matching stamps, I trimmed the panel as close as I could so that I could mat it with a solid color.  I also cut an arch from the floral panels, and after attaching that to my matting, stamped the sentiments.

On the first 2 cards I used one of the same inks to stamp the sentiments, but on the 3rd red card, I couldn't find an ink that would show up, so I stamped everything in clear ink and embossed it in white.  

These are all absolutely flat for mailing, but the floral panels could be raised, along with the "Happy Birthday" sentiments.

Which is your favorite?  I'm partial to the purple one today!

Joy to The World!

 Merry Christmas!  I wish you all a Blessed holiday!

Dashing Through the Snow

 From the weather forecasts I've heard lately, lots of us will be doing just this this Christmas!  

Today's card is just a play with some brand new and some older Tim Holtz stamps.

supplies: white and Schoolhouse Red cardstock, trees and sentiment from this year's Tim Holtz Bold Text/Falling Stars/Tree Lot stamp/stencil pack, winter sleigh from Tim Holtz Deco Christmas, bundled sage, rustic wilderness, and lumberjack plaid distress inks, PinkFresh Studio Folk Edge die, (retired) Snow Flurry embossing folder

I stencilled the pines, stamped the sleigh, then overstamped the sentiment before embossing with a snowflake folder and trimming the panel down so that my mat would be wider than usual.

Wishing you and yours a safe, white, Merry Christmas!

Hello Winter!

 My Simon Says Stamp Card Kit arrived yesterday, on the first day of winter!  I was inspired by the beautiful Color Blend cardstocks and the sweet snowflake in the Kit  to make this card.

Simon Color Blend cardstock, Matte Silver cardstock, silver glitter cardstock, VersaMark ink and silver embossing powder,  Aiden Snowflake and Sophie Snowflake dies, sentiment from Snow Love clear stamp set, a Tim Holtz Ideaology Snowflake adornment, adhesive foam squares

I cut the Sophie snowflake (not included in the kit) from matte silver and the Aiden snowflake from silver glitter card, stacked them, separating them with a tiny adhesive foam square, then added one of the Snowflake adornments on top.  This was attached to the color blend cardstock base, on which I had stamped and silver embossed my sentiment.

One of the best things about Simon's Card Kits are the wonderful assortment of goodies included in each one.   I would probably not have even known about these delicate snowflake adornments, and it was wonderful to get a set of the new color blend cardstock - they are beautiful!  

Here's the kit:

Simon Says...... Party!

Welcome to the new challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge blog!

Our theme this week is "Party!", and the team is playing with our own Simon Says Stamp exclusive products!  

This challenge will last for 2 weeks.

I made a shaker card for this week's challenge.

supplies: Printed papers from My Favorite Things Happy Patterns and Sunny Studio Rainbow Bright, Simon largest Balloon Trio die, Life is a Party sentiment, and Disco Ball sequins, baker's twine, clear plastic and circle die to create shaker, adhesive foam

Now it's your turn!  We have a $25.00 gift certificate 

to the amazing Simon Says Stamp store for 1 lucky random winner of this week's challenge!  

 

Bottle Brush Trees

 Something jogged my memory when I saw Tim Holtz's new Bottle Brush Tree stamps this year, and sure enough, with a little digging, I found a stamp set from Hero Arts in 2014 that had 2 sizes of them.  I think I probably only used it once HERE, so now's the time to dust it off!

supplies: ivory and dark green cardstock, Hero Arts Family & Friends clear stamps (trees and sentiment), MFT Wonky Stitched Rectangle die, oxide inks: rustic wilderness, pine tree, evergreen bough, vintage photo, and candied apple inks, little wood stars, glue pen and glitter, dark red pearls

I was unable to capture it in my photo, but I used a glue pen anywhere there was a teensy white dot on the trees and then sprinkled on some glitter.  It's a detail that makes this card a little more festive, but still rustic.

Now that I've rediscovered this set, I may do another card in bright colors.  Thanks for stopping by!

A Christmas Rose

 Recently a sweet friend sent me a gift card and I treated myself to a set of dies that have long been on my wishlist.  These Lovely Layers Rose dies will be used mostly in the warmer months, but I wanted to give them a test run, so I made a Christmas card with them for today's post.

supplies: Lipstick Red and Cream cardstock, various reds from Memory Box Berry Reds and greens from Lush Green paper pads, Honey Bee Lovely Layers Rose, Simon Detail Ringlet cover plate die and a Christmas sentiment strip, adhesive foam squares

The rose consists of 7 layers, which can be a problem when finding that many shades of a color , but I doubled up on 1 of the lower layers, as hardly any of it shows.  Next time I play with these, I'll try using inks and varying the intensity of them.  They go together quickly and easily and, as with many of Honey Bee's layering flowers, give a lovely result; even the stems and leaves use 3 shades of green.

I wanted a subtle background to let the rose be the star, and this Ringlet Circle die fit the bill perfectly!

Thanks for stopping by for a visit today!

Chilly & Freezy

What a fun surprise for Heidi at Simon Says Stamp to start off DieCember with this darling set of snowmen dies from Tim Holtz!   Mine arrived a few days ago and I couldn't wait to play!  I should have posted this sooner, as the dies are now sold out - hope you got a set for yourself!

supplies: white, various solid cardstock, snowy background from Whimsy Stamps Blurry Flurries pad, Tim Holtz Chilly & Freezy snowmen dies, (includes heart), Woodland tree, sentiment from Simon's Snowflake Season, tiny white pom-pom, adhesive foam to pop up snowmen

I thought I'd pair these little cuties with a tree, and since there's a heart die in the set, they are decorating it for Valentine's Day, maybe???  You know me and my hearts.......

Are you ready for Christmas?  I sent my cards out earlier this week, far fewer than in past years.  I hope that Christmas cards won't fade away like so many other things have........hope I can do better next year.

Enjoy your weekend!

Simon Says......Ice Cold

Welcome to the new challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog!

This week our theme is Ice Cold, and the team is featuring Avery Elle products.  I made a window-shaped card.

supplies: white cardstock (for card back), Blurry Flurries design paper, Avery Elle Candlelight Christmas clear stamps, Tim Holtz Baseboard Window Frame, Simon sentiment strip, snowflake sequins

I chose my elements to make my window arrangement, colored them, cut them out, and arranged them. Then I glued them onto the window frame.  I backed it with a nighttime falling snow paper, and used the frame to cut out another piece of white cardstock to use as my card backing.

This is exactly how we decorate our home for Christmas, except that the greens are outside each window, and the candle inside.

Now it's your turn!  We have a $25.00 gift certificate 

to the amazing Simon Says Stamp store for 1 lucky random winner of this week's challenge!  I can't wait to see what you all make this week!

Snowflake Joy

 I finally was able to snag this Honey Bee Pierced Fancy Flakes cover plate and decided to use it to CASE a card by Marcia that I had pinned years ago.  Here's my version, mixing a bunch of retired products with my new cover plate.

supplies: white, silver glitter, aqua glitter cardstock  and a blue dot patterned paper, Pierced Fancy Flakes die, 2 large snowflake dies, Penny Black Joy to the World die

As you can see, I CASEd Marcia's card exactly, substituting my own supplies and changing up the color from her green to my aqua.  Here's a closer look to see the stunning pierced snowflake details.

I didn't think I "needed" the matching snowflake cover plate, but after seeing Marcia's card again, I guess I do!

Thanks for stopping by!

Home Sweet Quilt Collection: Filigree Eight Point Star and Orange Peel

Today I have some cards using more of the Home Sweet Quilt collection by Becca Feeken.

Here's another set of dies that I couldn't wait to play with:  Filigree Eight Point Star.

supplies: white and 2 shades of cornflower blue cardstock, Filigree Eight Point Star dies, Quilty Hugs Sentiments, embossed in white, tiny heart sprinkle

This set of dies has all kinds of possibilities!  There are filigree pieces for all of the triangle and diamond pieces of the large star, but you don't have to use them, as there are stitching dies also (you can see them in the corner triangles).  

At this time of year, I wanted a kind of snowflake look, so I kept to 2 shades of blue and white, but you could bring in all kinds of colors if you'd like!

I showed you this Orange Peel embossing folder earlier HERE, but today I thought I'd let it be the star of the show.

supplies: white and Peacock cardstock, Orange Peel embossing folder, peacock feathers distress ink, sentiment dies from Log Cabin & Flower Mini Quilts die set, scalloped circle and circle die

After embossing on white cardstock, I lightly rubbed peacock feathers ink in a circular motion across the surface to catch the highest points.  Then I trimmed the panel slightly, matted it, and added my sentiment.

If you're a quilter, you are going to love this collection - I've shown you only a few of the sets that Becca has designed!

Thanks for visiting today.

Home Sweet Quilt Collection: Log Cabin and Flower Mini Quilts

 Spellbinders and Becca Feeken are launching a new collection called Home Sweet Quilt!  I was so excited to see this, as I quilted for many years before I became a cardmaker.  

One of the die sets is called Log Cabin and Flower Mini Quilts, and I have 3 cards using that set today.  I also used Becca's new Orange Peel Quilt embossing folder and some sentiments from  the Quilty Hugs clear stamp set, both of which are included in her collection.  For all of these designs, I started by cutting out the quilt motif, setting aside the small pieces, and applying clear packing tape to the back of the "bones" of the design.  Then I simply paper-pieced it in the colors of my choosing; the sticky tape holds everything together as I go.

supplies: white, Lipstick Red, and Audrey Blue cardstock, Flower Mini Quilt dies (includes sentiment)

I cut the quilt on the diagonal on a panel of white cardstock, then cut it again in red and aqua.  Then I simply pieced back the rest of the design into its outline, giving the effect of an inlaid design.  The Quilty Hugs sentiment is part of this die set.

Next I used more of the same pieces from my original cuttings and make another little mini quilt, but this time I ran it through the Orange Peel embossing folder for some dimension.  I did the same for the background panel, and then added the mini quilt, matching the "quilting", and added a stamped sentiment from Becca's Quilty Hugs.

supplies: white, Audrey Blue, and Lipstick Red cardstock, Flower Mini Quilt dies, Orange Peel embossing folder, and a sentiment from Quilty Hugs clear stamp set

And because I cut this design out of 3 different colors, I have another little quilt made up of the leftover pieces after doing the 2 above.  I placed it over an A2 panel, just to show you how different these blocks can look, depending on where you place the colors.  That's what makes quilting fun!

Next I switched to the Log Cabin design and used some small-scale printed papers to piece it, then embossed it in a little heart folder, and added another of the stamped sentiments.

supplies: white and Peacock cardstock, patterned papers from a retired MFT paper pad, Log Cabin Mini Quilt dies, sentiment from Quilty Hugs stamp set, my own heart embossing folder

For my last design, I made a paper Christmas Log Cabin quilt, measuring about 7" square.  

white cardstock, various Doodlebug Petite Prints in red and green, a snowflake die, Log Cabin Mini Quilt dies

This is simply 4 blocks of the log cabin, seamed together after piecing, and matted on red.  No sentiment on this, as it's meant as something to be displayed on a shelf, mantel, etc.   

I think that's enough for today!  Thanks for hanging in with me!  I'll be back again very soon with another set of quilt dies from this same collection!