Paper Sweeties January Inspiration Challenge #27 - 'Winter Wishes'

Hello, everyone!  Happy almost New Year to those of you in the Midwest and further west of the IDL like me and Happy DEFINITE New Year to everyone else!  I'm here to share a card for January's monthly challenge at Paper Sweeties!  We've got such a fun theme...

Isn't that a sweet inspiration?!  I LOVED the banner, so I knew I'd have to copy that somehow.  I also loved the colors, so I used a few of them as well.  Here's what I came up with...

I started by die cutting the banner pieces out of specialty paper using the Sweet Cuts - Fun Shapes die set.  I then stamped each piece with the small snowflake from the Holly Days stamp set in a dark blue ink.  Rhinestones added a bit of glimmer to the banner as did the crystal buttons that I used to "connect" the banner pieces.

Next I turned to the sentiment.  I chose one from the I Love You stamp set because it went with the winter wishes theme.  At least, I feel that it does!  The sentiment was stamped onto the same specialty paper with the same ink as the banner pieces.

I then layered everything together onto a card base made using some patterned paper and a doily.  Some more bits and bobs were added to fill everything in and I really love the final product!  It seems all soft and wintry!

That's all for now!  I'll be back soon with more posts for the January Paper Sweeties release, but for now, take a peek at the other inspiration from the other wonderful gals from the Paper Sweeties design team!

Here's the list to follow~

Annette Witherspoon

  Char Cundy

Debbie Marcinkiewicz
Jill Norwood
Julie Tucker-Wolek 

Larissa Heskett 
Lysa Rohrer
Mackie Robertson

Maria Patrick

Michelle Bala
Mynnette Kitchen
Nancy Penir 

January Guest Designer:  Beth Johnson

For even MORE inspiration, check out the Paper Sweeties YouTube channel!

Until next time, HUGS and happy stamping, all!

Blog Highlight for 2014 + Link Party!

Hi, friends!  It's that time of year again.  You know, when everyone shares their faves from the past year!  I've had such an amazingly whirlwind year and I feel SO blessed with all the things that have happened in my blog life that it has been super hard to choose just ONE favorite thing from each month, but I did it!  If you'd like to see my fave 2014 Christmas Cards, you can see just those HERE.  Let's just get started with this, though, ok?

January

January marked the first month with me acting as the Design Team Coordinator at Great Impressions.  I took over for an absolutely amazing friend (Jenny) and so I was really nervous.  The wonderful people I've gotten to work for have really made the transition happy I feel grateful to continue in this capacity still!  

February

February brought more fun changes to my blog!  I started as a full-time design team member for Inspired By Stamping this month!  I absolutely adore Joanna and the other gals on this team and I think you can agree, these products are just amazing!  I feel blessed to be continuing on this team--it's such a great company to design for!

March

March was the month that I first participated in the Card Chain Challenge over at Society of Stampaholics.  I was the first ever participant from Kansas (woot!) and I have participated a few other times, as well.  The ladies who participate in this swap are AMAZING and I always get the most beautiful cards from them!  Deborah, the sweet gal who runs it, is just fabulous.  If you haven't participated, you should consider doing so!

April

April was a super fun month for me! My sister brought her two girls for a visit and we made some fun Peeps-On-A-Stick with coordinating tags.  Aren't these super fun?!  The sentiment on the tags is from Paper Sweeties and the image is from Inspired By Stamping.

May

In May I made my very first shaker card!  It was made using super bright colors and uses stamps from Inspired By Stamping.  I also started using my Spectrum Noir markers more in May--they are what I used to color the beautiful rose image in the shaker portion of the card as well as the rhinestones. :)

June

June brought a blog hop with Great Impressions and Operation Write Home.  It was also super exciting because I designed some of the stamps that Great Impressions sells to help Operation Write Home, including the sentiment used on this card!  If you'd like to purchase them and help support our troops, you can find these stamps HERE at Great Impressions. :)

July

July brought another new and fabulous design team position into my blogging life.  This time, it was an invitation to join Debbie and her amazing team at Paper Sweeties!  These gals are all super talented and Debbie is one of the sweetest people I've had the privilege of working with in blog land!  This was such a blessing to me at a difficult time in my personal life and I am super grateful to still be working with these fabulous women.  July also marked 4 years of blogging. :)

August

August brought my new blog look and also the time when I FINALLY was able to get some stamps out that I had purchased in May from a consignment sale!  This card was the first one made with this set...I'm not even sure if it has seen the light of day since, but I am quite happy with this card!

September

September brought another blog hop--this time with Great Impressions and Die Versions!  I was able to craft with some beautiful stamps and amazing dies from these two companies and also work alongside Patti Gilliam who is the DT coordinator for Die Versions.  I feel so blessed to have gotten to know her and her team!

October

Not any real story behind this card, I just super love the way it turned out!  I guess it was one of the first cards made specifically to have a video to go along with is for the House of Cards challenge blog.  I just really enjoyed watching this card unfold and it was a hit with my family as well!  One of my sisters who has an October birthday asked for a similar card like this for her birthday because of the Great Impressions sentiment.  It was all purple and I Frankensteined (that's a word--I just used it) it to say "Witching you a happy birthday". 

November

I know that I said the last card didn't have a story and then I told a story (yeah...), but this card truly has no story.  I just LOVE it.  It uses lots of goodies from Inspired By Stamping and lots of shine and sparkle.  This photo does it no justice because you don't see the full effect of the gold heat embossing.  I LOVE THIS CARD!  I still have it tucked away safely and I don't know if I will ever give it away...I'm stingy with favorite creations like that. :)  This card is being uploaded to the Clear It Out challenge for favorite 2014 card. :)

December

In December, the fun new watermarks I made for the Paper Sweeties team were used by most of the team and I pulled out my chalk marker (finally--I'd had it since March!) to use in creating this card.  I really love the way this turned out, so that's why it's my fave for December!

I'm also linking up with Debby HERE

As well as with Wendy HERE!

That's all for me today and for 2014!  Thank you so much for being a part of my year--each of you is a gift to me and I cherish all the kind words you share on my blog!  I'd love for you to link up your year end highlights below if you do this sort of thing, too, and I'll come leave you some love!  HUGS and happy NEW YEAR stamping to you all!

An InLinkz Link-up

My 5 Favorite Christmas Cards of 2014

Hi, friends!  I'm sure lots of you know about Debby's challenge to choose your top 5 favorite Christmas cards from 2014.  I've been hemming and hawing over which ones I'd choose.  My dear hubby helped me in the end.  It was tragic. ;)  Anyway, I have them here for you from newest/most recently posted to oldest/least recently posted.  Let's go!

First up: Warmth & Love

This card is one of my favorites mainly because of how simple it was to make yet how elegant it looks.  This is one that, should I go that route, I could make 50 of very quickly and easily.  But I don't do that, so this will remain one of a kind. ;)

Next up: Blackboard Bird House

This card turned out much better than I anticipated that it would.  I was so excited with the final product!  The blackboard effect turned out beautifully and I love how the black makes the other traditional Christmas colors POP!

Third up: Christmas Swag

This card was fun to make.  I used a wreath building set from Inspired By Stamping to create the swag using generational stamping.  I was worried my idea wouldn't translate to the card, but it did! :)

Fourth up: Merry & Bright

This card was fun to make.  It was for a color challenge and I used non-Christmas stamps to create the blooms.  I love the way the layered colors and metallics layered together.  I think it definitely looks like a Christmas card even though the flowers are non-Christmas!

Last up: Winter Wonderland

This card is one that totally took a lot of brain power to figure out.  Not that the design is so hard, but the challenge was definitely...challenging. ;)  We were to use metallic card and I do not own any. (I know, buy some already...)  I kept thinking of ways to get around this, when some fun metallic tissue paper caught my eye.  HOORAY!  It worked beautifully!

That's all for me right now!  I hope you join the fun with this link up and that if you do your favorite Christmas cards or even a yearly highlight that you link it up HERE with me, too!  HUGS and happy new year stamping! :)

Great Impressions + Merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, friend!  I hope your day is amazing and filled with lots of fun, joy, and love!  I'm here to share a card I made using some beautiful products from Great Impressions.  I also have a short slideshow that I've made for all my friends and family that I'll add at the end, too.  Take a peek at the card first, though...

I started this card by stamping G22 Pine Cone Bough twice onto some white card stock.  I stamped them opposite ways to create a semi frame.  I then decided to do just some selective coloring and color the berries with a red glitter pen.  It looked elegant and so I stopped there! ;)

I then stamped E250 Warmth & Love onto another piece of white card stock and cut it to fit onto a red scalloped card stock mat.  Some black liquid pearls added a bit of shine and elegance and I used dimensional foam to add this portion to the card.

That was it!  A super quick and easy card, but I think it turned out very elegantly and can be mailed easily.  It actually already was! ;)  Take one last look...

Once again, Merry Christmas, friends!  I've created a little holiday greeting slideshow that I'd like to share with you about what Christmas means to my family...here it is!

Thanks so much for stopping by to take a peek at my creation!  Hop over to the Great Impressions blog for more inspiration and come play along with our monthly challenge, too!  If you use stamps from Great Impressions, you'll be able to link up your creation in our Customer Gallery, too!  HUGS and MERRY Christmas, and MERRY stamping to you all!  See you again soon!

Welcome Home!

Hello again, friends!  I hope your holiday season is going well--MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!  I've got another banner to share with you today as well as another piece of artwork with the same "theme".  My sister recently returned home from an 18 month mission in Brazil and so, of course, I had to make some fun banners, etc., to welcome her home!  Come see the banner...

My sister love bright colors, so that was my starting point.  I die cut some Smoky Slate cardstock and patterned papers from my scrap drawer using Stampin' Up! banner dies.  I then layered these together and put them in a pattern-ish.  I added flowers held together with Stampin' Up! brads from my stash to the "space" banners, you know, where there should be a space between words?

The words were created by cutting out letters with my Silhouette.  The letters are cut out of Basic Gray cardstock and layered onto punched circles of Basic Black cardstock.  These are added to the banners, but first washi tape was layered to create an artsy feel.  

The pieces were all punched and then reinforced with colorful hole reinforcers from my stash.  The banner was tied together with green, yellow, and white baker's twine also from my stash.  The sentiment is "Love you Abbie".  Abbie is my sister's name. ;)

After I finished the banner, I looked at the paper that the letters were cut out of and I couldn't bring myself to throw it away.  Instead, I used the scraps of patterned paper from the banner and washi tape to create a fun framed piece of art that matches the banner.  The wood frame was covered with washi tape to make it a bit more whimsical.  Sequins were used for the "holes" in the letters and for a bit of embellishment.

Thank you for stopping by today and MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE to you all!  I hope you spend the next few days surrounded by loved ones and that, if you have time, you join in the fun with the challenges I'm linking with.  HUGS and MERRY crafting to you all!

For these fabulous challenge~

Creative Card Crew: Anything Goes

Papertake Weekly: Choose Past Challenge

(To Die For)

PDE Linky Party: Anything Goes

Sweet Stamps: Anything But a Card

Top Tip Tuesday: Make Your Own...