CASE-ing Joy

SplitCoast Stampers is honoring Joy Taylor as their first featured stamper of 2014!  And we are invited to CASE one of her cards from her gallery there.  She is one of my favorite card makers, so it was a joy (pun intended) to check out her gallery and make this card, based on her card HERE.

I just received the Simon Says Stamp February Card Kit and could not wait to play with the beautiful papers in it.  So I CASEd Joy's sketch completely, just substituting these gorgeous papers and the sentiment from the stamp set also in the kit.  Instead of her wood stars I used pink pearl hearts.

 

I hope you'll take some time to familiarize yourself with Joy's amazing work if you don't know her already!  

Be Mine

I found a new challenge blog, The Card Concept, and their first challenge is a color one.  Here are the colors we are to use:

And here is my first card that I'll be entering:

supplies: vanilla card base, various washi and fabric tapes, sentiment from an old Impression Obsession valentine stamp set, Latte chalk ink, pearls and enamel dots, a Dear Lizzie dimensional embellishment

We're supposed to classify our entries into a card style.  I need a little help here.  This could be considered Clean and Simple because it would be quick and easy to recreate.  It could also be considered Clean and Layered because I used embellishments.  The 6 different card styles are defined here.

It's been ages since I've been able to enter challenges, and I'm enjoying it!  Looking forward to seeing what other challenges will be upcoming at The Card Concept!  

CASE-ing Donna

It's been way too long since I've played at the CASE Study challenge!  Our muse this month is my sweet friend Donna Mikasa.

Pure genius, isn't it?  Like all of Donna's cards.   Since we're getting close to my favorite holiday, I decided to make a Valentine's card.

I used all Simon Says Stamp sets: Only Have Eyes for You, Tag Sayings, You, and a set that I shouldn't be showing you yet.......along with Hero Arts inks: soft blossom, bubble gum, ripe tomato and red royal. 

Thanks, Donna, for your constant inspiration!! 

Simon Says..........Ice!

Welcome to our 2nd challenge of 2014 at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge!

This week, our Laura made us this inspiration board, and our theme is ice!

Let's see what you'll do with it!  The design team are all using either Glitter Ritz or Distress Glitters this week.  I used the opportunity to get me some Clear Rock Candy distress glitter!  

I really liked the first picture at the top of the inspiration collage, and so that's where I started.

I found the background birch trees paper in a new BoBunny paper collection called Woodland Winter.  I cut out a panel and before attaching it to my card, I ran some glossy accents along the edges of the trees, then dipped it into my rock candy glitter.  I used the glossy accents also to adhere the glitter to my punched snowflakes.  My deer dies are Impression Obsession, and my sentiment comes from Kelly Purkey's Let It Snow stamp set.  

The papers in the Woodland Winter collection are all wonderful, so while I had it out, I decided to do a 2nd card for this challenge.

I chose this subtle one (it has some script and a pinecone at the bottom left corner) and applied some falling snow with my Signo white pen.  After removing the stencil, I went back in with a glue pen and applied glue to some of the flakes, then immediately dipped the panel in more Clear Rock Candy glitter.  My snowflakes on this card are Penny Black's Snowflake Trio ones, and they are also liberally coated with glitter.  Again, my sentiment comes from the same Kelly Purkey set as above. 

Heidi has contributed another of her $50.00 gift vouchers to the Simon Says Stamp store for the lucky random winner of this week's challenge!

Winter Collage

Last year a sweet friend sent me some stamps that she was no longer using.  Among them was this lovely Winter Collage stamp by Memory Box, from 2012.  With the impending cold snap on the way and lots of snow and ice coming, I thought this might be a good time to share a card using it, to reflect the beauty of the season.

I simply stamped it and colored in the tiny elements, then framed it in green and placed it on a kraft card.  Sometimes simple is best.

Thanks for visiting today - keep cozy!!

Some Valentines

Here are 2 Valentines I think I'll send to my Grandkids, using the fun googly-eyed monster from the Simon January Card Kit.

This first one uses 2 of the included design papers and a sentiment and some stamped hearts from the kit.  I added 2 of  my own washi tapes.  I pieced the monster's eyes and teeth and popped her up above the card.

This one will be for our oldest grandson Liam - his favorite color is red.  So I used the red and desert storm cardstocks from the kit, again piecing in the monsters' teeth, and another of the sentiments from the stamp set.  These washis are all from my collection, and the wood veneer hearts came from last year's February CardKit.  This time I added my own googly eyes.

Love You Sew Much

Here's my first card using materials from Simon's January 2014 Card Kit.  I was inspired by Lucy to make a quilt card.

I used my 1 1/4" punch to punch out squares from 3 of the included designer papers, then pieced them back together on a 3 3/4" scrap backing to make a 9-patch quilt.  Then I used one of my Spellbinders scalloped heart dies to cut out the heart.  That was glued to my marshmallow card base, and I stamped the sentiment from the Only Have Eyes for You stamp set in the kit in charcoal ink.  Next I ran the whole card front through a cuttlebug embbosing folder called Cross My Heart.  And lastly I added a heart button and a double bow.  

Here's all the lovely elements in this month's kit - love everything about it!  

Simon Says.........Something New

This is my 2nd post for today; if you're here to see my farewell post as a member of the Penny Black Stamp Squad, please scroll down 1 post or click HERE.  Thanks!

Happy New Year!!  It's time for the first challenge of 2014 at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge!!

Our theme this week is Something New; you can interpret that any way you like: New Year, new job, new baby, something crafty that's new.  The Design Team are working with My Favorite Things this week, and if you have any of their dies, stamps, or stencils, we'd love to see your creations with them, too, but it's not necessary to enter our challenge as long as you follow our theme.

At this time of year I am already tired of the grey landscape and short days, and so my mind went to spring, which is a new beginning for all of us every year.  In looking through the MFT offerings at Simon Says Stamp, I found this lovely Spring Wreath die, which includes the 2-part bow.  I also typed "New Beginnings" into the search bar and found this sweet paper pad by Webster's Pages.  The papers are all pastels which I love so much and there are baby motifs, eggs, nests, and lots of pretty florals, so there were my elements for my card!

I chose 3 of the papers in pinks and greens, and added some matching pearls as little pink flower buds.  I love how everything pulled together!  (the sentiment is from a The Craft's Meow stamp set that is now discontinued, but isn't it perfect?  Happy Spring would work here, too, but this one covers all the bases!  I think with these colors that it could be celebrating the start of a new family)   Here's a closer shot to show you the pretty dimensional bow, which will come in handy even when I'm not using this wreath.

Our generous Heidi has provided us with a $50.00 gift voucher to the Simon Says Stamp Superstore for the random winner of this challenge!

Happy New Year!!

2014 has officially begun!  I hope it's the start of a wonderful year for all of us, but it's now officially the end of my term as an inaugural member of the Penny Black Stamp Squad.  Those months flew by, and I was honored to serve with my fellow teamies, Greta, Judy, Penny, and Rosemary.  But all good things come to an end, and so as a farewell, this week we have taken over the Penny Black Blog.  Today is my day over there - I hope you'll pay a visit there, too!

I decided to go with a New Year's Resolution kind of theme, and chose the wonderful Life's Messages  cling set to work with.  My first card is being featured over at the Penny Black Blog, and here's a second one, using a quote from Philippians, which you can see over there on my sidebar.  While I am not a resolution-maker each year, this quote has always meant alot to me and I was thrilled to find it as part of this stamp set!  Here's my card for today:

I decided to let the words be the star of my card, so I chose a collection of design papers (Crate Paper's On Trend paper pad) to go along with them.  I stamped in a grey ink in keeping with the color scheme of the papers, and just added a rose and some leaves to echo the beautiful floral paper.

I want to take this opportunity to thank the people at Penny Black, and especially our coordinator, Jill Foster, for allowing us to play with these wonderful stamps during our term on the Stamp Squad.

Wishing us all a prosperous, healthy and Happy New Year 2014!!

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!

Let It Snow

Snowflakes have been big this year, with so many beautiful ones!  Here's a card using all Penny Black products.

supplies: Love and Joy (sentiment), Christmas Harmony (snowflakes), Snowflake Trio (dies), various sequins, Memento Luxe Danube Blue ink

Hope you're keeping cozy!