Lovebirds

Hi everyone! I'm happy to say I've completed all the birthday cards I need for January, and it's time to start working on Valentines. This card is going to my newly engaged son and his fiance. I know, it's decidedly a girly-girl card, but she'll like it! I didn't have the sentiment I wanted so I created my own using MS Word. 

Today I'm playing along with three challenges. At The Paper Players (miss you gals!), it's Crazy about Critters. At The Card Concept, I was inspired by the colors. Finally, at Lawnfawnatics, it's Happy Little Critters. 

Stamp Sets: Friends Forever (Lawn Fawn)

Card Stock: Ivory (Simon Says Stamp), Real Red, Pink Pirouette (Stampin' Up)

Patterned Paper: Beloved (Authentique)

Ink Pads: Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Markers: Copic

Tools: Big Shot, Friends Forever Dies, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Stitched Heart Dies (Lawn Fawn)

Enamel Dots: Echo Park

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you'll leave a comment! 

Hats Off to You

Hi friends! With the holidays now behind us, it's time for me to focus on my January birthday cards, and I got started with a masculine one. This one is for a neighbor and good friend. It's kind of hard to tell from the photo, but each of the little hats was cut out by hand and popped up with a dimensional. Also hard to see, the background was embossed with the Subtle embossing folder, giving the card some nice texture. 

While I was at it, I made a second one in different colors. Which do you like better? I'm kind of partial to the blue one, though the orange one photographed much better.

I'm playing along with Anything Goes and my friends at Seize the Birthday today. Miss you gals! 

Products Used (All Stampin' Up unless otherwise specified)

Stamp Sets: Guy Greetings

Card Stock: Whisper White, Basic Gray

Patterned Paper: This and That Epic Day

Tools: Big Shot, Subtle Embossing Folder, Stitched Square Dies (Lawn Fawn)

Accessories: Gray Grosgrain Ribbon (Recycled)

Thanks for stopping by! 

My favorite cards of 2018 and some news

Hi friends, and a Happy New Year to you! As has been my tradition the last several years, on January 1, I post some of my favorite creations of the year. This is an interesting process for me too, as I see how my tastes and style have evolved over the years.

It's my tradition to share paper-crafty news today also, so here I go. I've made the decision to resign from both the design teams of The Paper Players and Seize the Birthday. This was a very difficult decision for me to make, and I will miss both of these teams dearly. They are such thoughtful and kind people, and I hope we will still remain friends. However, between work and family, I was finding it harder and harder to keep up with the responsibilities. I do plan to continue crafting and blogging, so you most definitely have not seen the last of me! 

Speaking of family, two of my sons got engaged in the fall of last year, so I have two weddings in my near future! I am so blessed to be a part of two new families. Life is good :)

Now on to the cards, and there is a link to the original post beneath each one. Enjoy! 

Pink Spring Flowers

Playful Love

St. Patrick's Bouquet

Birthday Flowers

CAS Geranium

Nautical Stripes

Hipster Birthday

Thankful Sunflowers

Christmas Silhouettes

Autumn Leaves and Berries

CAS Sweet Treats

Christmas Floral

Thanks for visiting, and wishing you and your families all the best in 2019.

Inky hugs :)

Christmas Floral

Hi friends! It's Sunday and that means time for a new challenge at The Paper Players. This week the sweet and talented Joanne is our hostess with a festive color challenge. This is also our last challenge for the year, so we hope you'll find time to play along!

Most of you know that florals are my favorite, and I thought I would make a Christmas bouquet with these colors. I could see this arrangement on my Christmas dinner table. I colored it with Copic markers, then added some more detail with colored pencils.

I'm  also playing along with The Flower Challenge, where they'd like you to use an older stamp or die. Not quite sure how old this stamp is, but I'm thinking about two years, and it remains one of my favorite florals.

Stamp Sets: Kind Soul (Wplus9), Jingle Greetings (Mama Elephant)
Card Stock: Solar White (Neenah)
Patterned Paper: Stampin' Up
Ink Pads: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Markers: Copic
Colored Pencils: Prismacolor
Tools: Big Shot, Stitched Rectangle Dies (Lawn Fawn), Kind Soul Die (Wplus9)
Accessories: Enamel Dots (My Mind's Eye)

Thanks so much for stopping by! Please leave a comment, and then head over to visit the rest of the Design Team at The Paper Players. We hope you'll play along with our challenge this week, too! 

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Sandy Mathis

Claire Broadwater

Joanne James

Laurie Schmidt

Anne Marie Hile

Ann Schach

Annie Abrahamson

Jan Clothier

Elizabeth Stewart

Inky hugs :)

More Tall Trees

Hi friends! I have another card to share today using the same Tall Trees stamp set I used  in my post the other day. This time I kept my card even more clean and simple, and monochromatic, too. I stamped my trees in red ink and the colored some of them in with a red pencil. Though it's a little difficult to see, the card base is embossed with snowflakes. I finished things off with some little red rhinestones.

I'm playing along with the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches, and at Inspirational, it's Anything Christmas Goes.

Stamp Sets: Tall Trees (Impression Obsession), Endless Wishes (Stampin' Up)

Card Stock: Solar White (Neenah), Real Red (Stampin' Up)

Ink Pads: Real Red (Stampin' Up)

Colored Pencils: Prismacolor

Tools: Big Shot, Snowfall Embossing Folder (Taylored Expressions)

Accessories: Red Rhinestones (Hobby Lobby)

Thanks for visiting!

Colorful Christmas

Hi friends! It's Sunday and that means time for a new challenge at The Paper Players. This week the wonderful Jaydee is our hostess with a theme challenge: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

I was inspired by the colorful lights in the challenge badge to make a Christmas card in non-traditional colors. I'd purchased this stamp from Impression Obsession recently at The Ink Pad in Manhattan, and this is the first time I'm inking it up. I had a lot of fun coloring the images with my Prismacolor colored pencils. A sharp pencil can get in the tiniest of spaces, and I was also impressed how vivid the colors were for a pencil. I kept the rest of the card really simple with a sentiment from Lawn Fawn across the bottom.

 

At Christmas Card Throwdown, the challenge is to pick one of their previous challenges. I chose Sept. 2018, which is lime green and hot pink. At Inkspirational, it's Anything Goes Christmas. 

Stamp Sets: Tall Trees (Impression Obsession), Peace Love Joy (Lawn Fawn)
Card Stock: Solar White (Neenah), Doll Pink (Simon Says Stamp)
Ink Pads: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Colored Pencils: Prismacolor

Thanks so much for stopping by! Please leave a comment, and then head over to visit the rest of the Design Team at The Paper Players. We hope you'll play along with our challenge this week, too! 

The Paper Players Design Team

Jaydee

LeAnne Pugliese

Sandy Mathis

Claire Broadwater

Joanne James

Laurie Schmidt

Anne Marie Hile

Ann Schach

Annie Abrahamson

Jan Clothier

Elizabeth Stewart

Inky hugs :)

Happy Holly Days

Hello, friends! Well, the Christmas countdown is on, and I am focusing on getting my cards completed and addressed in the next week or so. I'm always curious... Do my fellow card makers make all the cards they send, and if so, how many? I have about 75 people on my Christmas card list, and I try to make them all but I can't always get it done. How about you?

At this point I am in need of some inspiration! The challenge that inspired me today was the Inspired By Challenge (how appropriate). I love the colors, the twine, the greenery, all of it! 

I followed through with the same images on the inside of my card. 

Stamp Sets: Happy Holly Days, Holiday Pine Branches (Hero Arts)

Card Stock: Whisper White, Crumb Cake (Stampin' Up)

Patterned Paper: Green Plaid (Paper Pizazz)

Ink Pads: Soft Olive, Forever Green, Field Greens, Red Royal (Hero Arts)

Tools: Big Shot, Holiday Pine Branches Dies (Hero Arts), Circle Dies (Sizzix)

Accessories: Linen Thread (Stampin' Up)

Thanks for stopping by!