Year of Cards - January

You knew I'd get back here with at least the last of my "Year of Cards" didn't you?  Good, cos that's what I'm gonna do right now. But first....
It's been an incredibly hectic holiday season. I actually had to send off 2 boxes of gifts without their Year of Cards boxes because I just couldn't get them finished (the stamps I needed and ordered arrived but I was under a pile o'Christmas). But right after Christmas I got to work and whipped up 12 of these (yes, I made extra. Originally I'd planned on 8 YOC's gifts and started making 9 cards at a pop somewhere along the line. Then I decided I needed 9 gifts... suffice it to say I had a complete 8 sets then had to add in the month's I was missing... oyvey I was a card making fool). I had them all packaged up in time to bring to Parlett Christmas in Delaware on Saturday. And they were very much appreciated -  which of course made my heart happy.
So for January's addition I felt I had to use that perfectly beautiful sentiment (there are others in the $5 little set) - it was just right. But what else? I'd seen a card using tiny little snowflakes but I was looking for something a little bolder. Then I remembered I had a few snowflake stamps - in a set of Making Memories foam stamps (do you have any of those? I remember needing all those sets. And I do have quite a few. Those foam stamps are just the easiest stamps to use.) I pulled them out and selected a medium sized snowflake. I stamped them in Versamark and used clear embossing powder then finishing off  by sponging on PTI Aqua Mist ink. I had already decided I'd put a stitched border on the left hand side - machine stitching with some lovely silver metallic thread I'd picked up months ago in Hobby Lobby. You'll see here a couple of variations of stitching but on the ones I gave away - those all had two lines of straight stitching. I like how they came out (and they were quick to make - even with the stitching.)
Okay, I'm off for now. I am pondering the new year - aren't we all?  I just took a look at the years I've been blogging here. It will be 10 years in January. How can that be????
Looking forward to what 2015 will bring -  Happy New Year!

Winter Wishes Dear Ones

Just jumping on here quickly to share some "Dear Ones"
cards I'm mailing out this morning. The stamps are Pompom Pals from PTI. So cute and fun to color (but as I'm looking at this pic I realize I forgot to color in one of the striped borders! LOL Had to stop and color that in superfast so I can get these in the mail this morning).
I played around a lot with these in a few stolen moments over the last few days and while I love my Copic Markers I decided to finally use my Prismacolor pencils - and that magic colored pencil technique (mineral spirits and tortillon). I also threw in a little Wink of Stella on those stars. Not the best pic but I wanted to just get something out here on the blog. Its just the busiest time of year and while I'm making things I'm not always sharing.
Lots of tags to be made, gifts to be wrapped (and purchased in some cases!) and I need that last stamp set for my Year of Cards. It'll all get done. It always does right?

Hope your holidays have gotten off to a great start and you're enjoying the season. Thanks for stopping by!

Updated: now its the afternoon and I came back cos I realized I needed one more "Dear Ones" card so I made the Pink snowman with the silver border (now the top pic). I wanted to show you the pretty sparkle of the clear Wink of Stella - so cute. That's really all for today now!

Year of Cards: December

Hello again!
So I'm almost at the finish line with my Year of Cards. Today's edition is December.
I tried to go with a winter feeling without it looking like a Christmas card. In my family, we have several Christmas birthdays (my grandfather and my cousin were born on Christmas day. there is one Christmas Eve baby, and several other December birthdays). I love red & white this time of year - candy canes, peppermints etc. I bought  Papertrey Ink's Fair Isle Motifs stamp set - sooo pretty. I went back & forth about using it as I had 8 cards to make (and that meant a lot of stamping! If you look closely at the cards pictured - I used one stamp. Stamped 6 times for each card front.) I tried out a few designs (stamping a selection of the stamps but finally decided to just use one of the large stamps). I couldn't make up my mind which orientation I wanted to do for all of the cards so I made a few of each - but each used the same sized stamped panel and the sentiment (from Birthday Classics: December) stamped on a die cut shape (Lil' Inker Designs Stitched Mats: Rectangles).
Now my Year of Cards is all caught up. I need to wait for the last in the PTI Birthday Classics series - January. It is due for release on the 15th. In the meantime, I'll pack up the cards in their boxes, create a label or belly band - still pondering packaging - and have it all ready to go for that final card.
Thanks for stopping by!

Year of Cards: November

Hello friends!
Back again to show you the November edition of my Year of Cards.
I decided to use Papertrey Ink's Autumn Adornments stamp set for the image. It's just the loveliest stamp - you can add little pumpkins to that vine or acorns like you see here. And I opted to keep it somewhat monochromatic. The cardstock is PTI's Fine Linen, the image is stamped in PTI Classic Kraft ink. The sentiment is from Birthday Classics: November, stamped in Dark Chocolate ink. Then I pulled out my sewing machine and did a bit of stitching (the thread is an off white - almost beige - blended right in. I was looking for the texture, not the color to add to the design).
Alrighty - that's all for today. Up next is December...

Year of Cards: October

Hello kids - I'm back! Well, I'm getting back - to normal. Thanksgiving was absolutely wonderful -and exhausting LOL (I can imagine you're nodding in agreement out there). Lots of food, fun and family. I wished I'd taken just a few more pics of the festivities but it's ok. This morning, things around here are returning to normal. I packed up all the fall and Thanksgiving decorations - now on with the Christmas! Okay, I'm not quite there yet but it's just good to have a quiet morning. Got a number of things done and that feels good. I haven't begun my Cyber-Monday shopping but I'm getting my credit card ready LOL!
So I'm here today to actually share a card (what a concept huh?)  Another in my "Year of Cards" series. Last I posted about this I still had October, November, December, and January cards to create. (A quick rehash - I'm making card sets for family members for Christmas - sortofa stocking stuffer if you will. There is a birthday card for each month featuring stamps from Papertrey Ink.) Today's edition is October. I tried to stay away from Halloweeny things (my older sister's birthday was near the end of October and she hated the Halloween themed birthday parties she had as a little girl. Strangely enough, I loved them and was always a little jealous my September birthday had no theme.)  I did use image stamps from PTI's Scentimentals stamp set (no - these cards aren't scratch-and-sniff but they coulda been!) as well as sentiments from PTI's Birthday Classics: October. I cut that little banner from the Double Ended Banner die and then stamped it with a stamp from PTI's Sketched Shapes. It's simple but I like it (and it's fairly flat - I think it'll mail with one postage stamp).
Thanks for stopping by. Stop on back this week - I'll be sharing November & December's cards!
Have a good one ~