Favourite Cards for 2012

Good morning everyone - another year of crafting over, and I have been looking back this morning at this year's cards in response to Debby's annual tradition of nominating our 5 favourite cards.

What a decision!! Although like most crafters  I'm usually super-critical of my own work, I get very fond of my efforts when I look back at them and remember how thrilled I was with new stamps, how an idea came together, or most importantly making the card with a particular person in mind :-) ... so my initial shortlist had 14 cards on it. So I've had to be ruthless .. but not TOO ruthless ... here are my favourite 7.

First up, my mum and dad's anniversary card which I made back in February. This was my first 8" * 8" card and I took the opportunity to make a large easel using my large PATP punch .... very fiddly but I was delighted with how pretty it turned out.

(Originally posted here).

I don't normally do any decoupage, but couldn't resist this free set in a craft mnagazine back in March. I made nearly all my Easter cards from the set, and this one was my favourite as I think it looks really fresh and spring-like.  (Originally posted here).

Love this vintage stamp and always find it very satisfying to colour - this is a springtime card I made in May.

(Originally posted here).

Here's another 8" * 8" card I  made (with matching box) when a friend in work got married in May ... I loved this large image and the fact I could use a large bow and wider lace which were too big for a normal size card. (Originally posted here).

This card from August is included simply because I think this bunny has got to be my favourite stamp ever - the innocent and wondrous expression on his face is just magical! (Originally posted here).

Like most people I struggle with making men's cards ... but for once it all seemed to come together with this one! I love colouring this LotV teddy in monochrome shades, and was lucky to find this funky paper which tied it all together. (Originally posted here).

I've really loved Memory Box dies this year, and have made several cards with this beautiful poppy which have always been well received. This was my favourite make using this die, for a friend's special birthday in November (originally posted here)..

So there's my 7 ... and before I finish I'd like to mention one other card  (originally posted here) ... it's not included above as it is not really my normal style, but it made me very happy as it was a Ruby Wedding card for my dear friend Jennifer in Australia - a fantastic new friend I have made this year as a direct result of blogging. Which just goes to show what a great pastime crafting and blogging can be!!

So there we have it - all crafting done for 2012, bring on 2013!!

I'll be back tomorrow with "Out With The Old, In With The New" ... and in the meantime I'd just like to wish everyone

A Very Happy New Year

and

All the Best for 2013

Hugs,

Five Favourite Christmas Cards of 2012

Good evening everyone .... I noticed that the lovely Debby is doing her fab annual tradition of asking us all to look back over the cards we have made this year and select our 5 favourites.

I think there  have been some really fabulous Christmas stamps, papers and embellishments around this year, and I've really enjoyed making my cards even though I was really soooo last minute with approx half of them. So here are a few favourites with a sentence or so for each one to try to explain why ....

This one was for my mum & dad;and I always love to put a lot of effort into their card. I adore this cute LotV stamp, and was pleased with my attempt to make a little scene with my trees and fence diecuts as well as managing to incorporate LOTS of my favourite flowers ... sprigs ... berries ... (I could go on!) This card was originally posted here.

Dear Snowy by Penny Black is one of my all-time favourite stamps, and it was a joy to dress him up in new colours to go with the fab LotV kraft papers, and also incorporate some stunning Memory Box Chrimbo dies which were another of my favourite things this year! (Originally posted here).

I won this PB stamp a long time ago and thought I didn't like it, until I idly stamped it onto a piece of card one day .. then I could suddenly see the possibilities for making a scene with some "depth". Not my usual style but I was quite happy with how this one turned out. (Originally posted here).

Another gorgeous Memory Box die, with some Penny Black script stamping in the background. Again fairly simple, but this card was well received :-)  (Originally posted here).

This C5 card really incorporates LOTS of EVERYTHING I love ... adorable LotV image & sentiment, fab LotV papers, dies, lace, big bow and a whole bouquet of flowers and berries. It's fair to say I could hardly get this one into the padded envelope!! This image was pretty intricate and hence of a bit of a challenge for me to colour, but very satisfying when done! (Originally posted here).

It was quite tough to choose just 5 - there were definitely at least a couple more I would really have liked to include - but 5 is 5 so that's it done now!

Don't know if I'll get any crafting done over the  next couple of days ....  but if not I'll be back on  new Year's Eve with my Favourite Cards overall for the year.

Hugs

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Merry Christmas to all my followers and visitors.

Hope you all have a wonderful  and peaceful day. Thanks so much for visiting my blog during the year, and hope you will continue to visit into 2013.

Today I would like to show you my very last Chirstmas card for 2012, and it is the 8" * 8" Christmas card I made for my darling husband ... I always make his card on Christmas Eve, and this year was no different.

I used this gorgeous LotV stamp "Feathered Friends" which I chose specially when I had a LotV voucher win, as I know he loves feeding the birds in the garden so I thought it would be romantic. I already used this stamp for another family member, but this time I have held off on the flowers and substituted some hearts and snowflakes instead with a big silver bow.  The sentiments were actually quite tricky - the "husband" sentiment was a combo from a Fizzy Moon stamp set; and the "Sending Love At Christmas" was another combo of two sentiments from a Crafter's Companion "Mulberry Wood" set .. it took me a few goes to get the relative positions right for the two stamps!

Stamps: LotV "Feathered Friends"; Fizzy Moon "It's All About Him"; Crafter's Companion Mulberry Wood;

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers; glamour dust on little girl's collar and hat;

Papers: LotV "Frosty Christmas";

Supplies: silver mesh ribbon and bells from The Ribbon Girl; gems from The Hobby House and Papermania; narrow silver ribbon from my stash;

Tools: Whimsy "Winter Jewel 3" snowflake die; Marianne D heart die.

Challenges:

Simon Says - Merry Christmas

Marianne's Design Divas - It's Christmas!

Kaboodle #151 - Christmas, Holidays or New Year

OSCC #210 - A Christmas Carol ("In The Bleak Midwinter")

Christmas Cards #4 - Jingle Bells
Crafts & Me - Winter Wonderland Bumper Christmas Challenge (2nd entry)

Sweet Stampin' - Seeing Double (2 hearts, 2 jingle bells)

Have a wonderful day everyone - I'll be back over the next few days with my fave Christmas cards of 2012 :-)

Hugs,

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Hi everyone ... hope your Christmas preparations are all coming together. I've still got quite a bit to do as I'm pretty much a last minute type of person, but I'm sure I'll get there lol!

Here are a couple more of the last minute cards I made earlier in the week )

I have really enjoyed teaming this teddy and robin with kraft papers and red accents this year,  and have made quite a few cards along this general theme ... I have also enjoyed experimenting with various colour combos for the teddy, and have discovered that one or two of my Promarkers from my Limited Edition 2012 sets seem to work well for fur ... particularly "Tawny Owl" from the Autumn 2012 set and "March Hare" from the Spring set .... I've also taken to using colours such as Tan, Putty and Almond, which give an overall cooler look than the warm fur colours I have used in the past. I'm not sure I'll ever really be happy with my colouring for fur but I have to keep trying new things!

Stamps: LotV "Teddy With Robin" and "Christmas Grungy messages";

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers, glamour dust for snow;

Papers: LotV "Krafty Christmas";

Supplies: Papermania and Hobby House gems; ribbon from my stash.

Challenges:

Simon Says - Merry Christmas (3rd entry)

My Time To Craft #202 - Animals In The Snow

Papertake Weekly - Pick Of The Year

(Getting Krafty - 21st February)

Totally Gorjuss #163 - Easy Does It

Hotshot Crafts #14 - Clean and Simple

Top Tip Tuesday #92 - Anything Christmas (2nd entry)

Stampin' For The Weekend #24 - Anything Goes

Rightee ... just finishing a wee tea break in my Chrimbo house-cleaning schedule - better go and finish off now before settling down for the Strictly final :-)

Hugs,

Snow Cute!

Just a quick post to show you some of the quick cute penguin cards I made at the weekend. Did anyone see the documentary on TV the other night called "Snow Babies"? It was a major cute baby animal alert, and the baby emperor penguins reminded me soooo much of this image :-)

Card 1:

Card 2:

Card 3:

Stamp: LotV "Snow Cute";

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers; glamour dust on the snow;

Papers: LotV "Frosty Christmas";

Supplies: sparkly ribbon from Hobbycraft;

Tools: large and scalloped circle nestabilities; Martha Stewart "Snow Flurries" PATP punch (on card 2).

Challenges:

Simon Says - Merry Christmas (2nd entry)

Craft Us Crazy #33 - Merry Christmas

Papertake Weekly - Pick Of The Year

(Cute, Cute, Cute! - 8th May)

Cutie Pie #33 - Cutie Christmas

Dutch Dare #196 - Photo Inspiration

DYSU #103 - Anything Goes

Papercrafting Journey - Anything Goes

That's me all cutied-out for today - thanks for visiting!

Hugs,

Feathered Friends

Hello everyone - hope you're having a good week. I'm off work so I have got plenty of time to potter around and get stuff done for Christmas .. though I don't reckon I'll get done half of the things on my "to do" list. Still, so long as I get the "must do" things done, I guess that's the main thing.

Today I'd like to show you the card I made for my husband's aunt - she is his closest relative. I actually won this stamp as part of a LotV prize on Papertake Weekly, and I chose it so I could make a romantic card for my husband (he loves feeding the bids in the garden). However I thought the traditional look would also work very well for his aunt who doesn't particularly like contemporary pictures or themes ... so I coupled it with a flower arrangement including  traditional Christmas rose, and a big red bow!  As usual the red has not photographed very true, and is actually rather darker than the pictures suggest.

Stamps: LotV "Feathered Friends", "Grungy Christmas Messages";

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers; glamour dust on hat and snow;

Papers: LotV "Frosty Christmas";

Supplies: flowers and lace fromWild Orchid Crafts; berries by Magnolia from The Glitterpot; pearls from The Hobby House; ribbon from Hobbycraft;

Tools: Memory Box "Snowflake Corner" die; Whimsy Snowflake die.

Challenges:
Simon Says - Merry Christmas

Crafty Mess #23 - Vintage Christmas

Crafty Calendar (December) - White Christmas

The Stamp Man (December) - In The Bleak Midwinter

Crafts & Me - Winter Wonderland
Bunny Zoe's (December) - Celebration

ABC Christmas - Y Is For Your Favourite Punch Or Die

(Whimsy Snowflake)
ABC - D is for Deck The Halls
(or in this case, deck the branch outside for the birdies ... how sweet is that??)

Sparkles Christmas #23 - Button or Bow (3rd entry)

Try It On Tuesday - Lucky Dip
(ribbon / sentiment / pearls / stamped image)
Papertake Weekly - Pick Of The Year
(November 20th - ribbons and pearls)
I ♥ Promarkers #148 - Anything But Square
Really Reasonable Ribbon #62 - Anything Goes + Ribbon

Christmas At Sweet Stampin' - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

That's all for today - thanks for visiting.

Something A Little Different Today

I'm having a little break today from Christmas crafting ... actually it is something of an enforced break, as I realised on Monday evening that I needed to make a birthday card RIGHT AWAY if I were to be able to post it yesterday and ensure it reaches the recipient in time for her birthday on Sunday! By the time I'd finished the last of my Christmas makes on Monday night for last-day 2nd class posting, I didn't start making this one until 10:45 pm so I didn't have a lot of time to hang about. This is the result.

About a month ago I was fortunate enough to win a $25 gift voucher for Simon Says Stamp - the first time this has happened - so I decided the obvious way forward was to purchase something only available from the store that I couldn't get elsewhere.  I love Memory Box dies, and there are some fabulous ones in the range made specifically for SSS; so I ordered three of them and they arrived about a week ago - woo hoo! The gorgeous delicate flower on this card is "Meadow Rue" ... soooo pretty cut out using pink glitter card!

My idea for using this die was partly prompted by the need for speed, and also by the fact that I was itching to use the gorgeous die cut which is behind the flower - this pretty delicate Spellbinders diecut was one of several sent to me in a "cheer you up" gift package from my lovely friend Jennifer (thanks so much dear xx) - and I was really pleased with how it went with the flower die. in fact I think I now NEED it and have put it on my Santa list :-).

I completed the look with a sheet of sparkly paper, a sentiment from my newest LotV set (loving these stamps!), delicate die cut corners and delicate ribbon - the whole thing was done in about 45 minutes start to finish, and it didn't even need a "large letter" stamp when I came to post it - yay!

Stamps: LotV "Everyday Grungy Messages" ;

Papers: Papermania "Lucy Cromwell";

Supplies: organza ribbona nd gems from my stash;

Tools: Simon Says Stamp "Meadow Rue" flower die; "Floral Ovals" nestabilities; Cheery Lynn "Lace Flourish" corners.

Challenges:

Sketch & Stash #103 - Sketch

Fab 'n' Funky #152 - Add Ribbon Or Lace

Papertake Weekly - Pick Of The Year

(All Things Girle - 17th July)

Really Reasonable Ribbon #62 - Anything Goes + Ribbon

Creative Inspirations #194 - Anything Goes

Divas By Design #66 - Anything Goes

Thanks for visiting - I'll be back tomorrow with another Christmas card !!

Another Lavender And Lace Christmas

Hi everyone, just a quick post from me today to show you one of the last minute Chrimbo creations I made at the weekend. This darling little penguin was just soooo easy to colour - I managed to colour in 7 of him in just over half an hour!! Even with all the cutting of paper, sticking etc. I still managed to make 7 cards in approx 2 1/2 hours which is pretty good going for me!  This particular one is different from the rest, as I wanted to tie it in to a particular colour scheme ...

Stamps: LotV "Snow Cute";

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers; glamour dust for snow;

Papers: Crafter's Companion "The Snowman";

Supplies: sparkly lace  and peel off greeting from my stash;

Tools: large and scalloped circle nestabilities; Cuttlebug "Ice Crystal" die; Martha Stewart  "Snow Flurry" PATP punch and "Arctic Snowflake" punch.

Challenges:

Gem Of A Challenge #61 - Lavender & Lace

OCC - It's A Purple & Silver Christmas

Quirky Crafts #26 - Last Minute Christmas

Paper Pretties Monday #70 - Christmas Creations

Creative Craft - Non-Traditional Christmas

Top Tip Tuesdays #92 - Anything Christmas

Kaboodle #150 - Christmas - Anything Goes

Thanks for visiting today.

With Love to Mum & Dad At Christmas

Good morning everyone. As you have probably guessed if you've been looking at my blog over the past couple of weeks, I have been having the classic "last minute panic" and making some quick Christmas cards in batches ... and yesterday I had another little session. However I also spent most of the day making a couple of "special" cards for my mum & dad and for my husband's aunt (his closest relative) - it was nice to get back into my usual comfort zone of "more is more"! :-)  Here is a C5 card I made for my mum & dad.

I love to put a lot of effort into my parents' cards, cos my mum especially really loves to see what I make. I really hope they will like these adorable penguins,

Stamps: LotV "Merry Christmas Penguins"; "Sentiment Tags";

Media: Promarkers and Flexmarkers; distressing on trees with blue pigment ink; plenty of glamour dust all around;

Papers: LotV "Frosty Christmas";

Supplies: flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts and local craft shop (blue roses); white spirals from The Ribbon Girl; berries by Magnolia from The Glitterpot; blue and silver gems by Papermania;

Tools: "curved rectangles" mega nestabilities; Magnolia doohickey "Lovely Fence" die; Marianne Design "Christmas Tree" (LR0136) die.

Challenges:

Marianne Design Divas -It's Christmas!

Stamptacular #194 - Christmas Time

Creative Inspirations #193 - Contemporary Christmas Colours

Allsorts #185 - O Christmas Tree!

Winter Wonderland - O Christmas Tree!

Totally Gorjuss #162 - For Someone Special

Joanna Sheen - With Love At Christmas

OSCC #209 - Distressed Christmas

Simon Says - Favourites (LotV stamps, flowers, sparkly gems)

Penny Black & More At Allsorts (December) - It's Your Choice (2nd entry)

That's all for today .... off now to get the cards all written and in the post! Back tomorrow with my other "special" card, plus I daresay one or two more of my quick ones later in the week :-)

Hugs,