Curtain Call for a Friend

The cats decided that I needed up at 5:30 this morning, so I ended up getting up and stamping.  It's a bit scary to stamp before coffee!  lol   I was inspired by the challenge at Curtain Call and the sketch at Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge.  Curtain Call is sponsered by Altenew and I just got some of their stamps in this week.  Perfect!

I'm a bit bummed as the stamping on my main panel doesn't all show up.  I stamped some of the flowers from Persian Motifs on the background in Grout Gray but it is very subtle and just would not show up in the picture.   I'll have to try some other tricks tomorrow and update my photo if I can get it.

     

I hope your new year has started off great.  I've been working so hard on getting my stamp room cleaned up and organized.  I am still saving up for some die storage and a few other things, but so far it's much better.

I need to figure out how to condense down the Simon Says Stamp card kits and the My Paper Pumpkin kits so I can get rid of all those boxes!  

More stamps still need to find homes as I hate having them stuck on top of the rows like that.  I need to do another purge/eBay weekend. 

I've managed to make a couple cards and kept my desk clean!  It's one of my goals for the year, so we'll see if I can keep it up.  :)   I'm hoping that making a place for everything and getting organized will help!

Year in Review II

Time for the last half of the year's favorite cards.   My creations went through a big change during this time as I really branched out and started using a lot of different products.   I lost a lot of followers by not using Stampin' Up! as much, but I've found so much new joy in my creating.    I also don't seem to have the problem of being upset about getting copied without credit and having my pictures used without permission.   The change seems well worth it just for that.  :)

July:


I love this card so much.  I didn't get this set when it was current, but was able to buy it from a friend later on.

August:


This is a pretty simple little card, but I shore do love it.  ;)

September:


Signing up for the Simon Says Stamp card kits was good for me as I've enjoyed them so much.  I've made quite a few cards with them and still have a lot of supplies left!

October:


October brought another big change for me as I joined the team at Prickley Pear stamps.   It has been fun being on a company design team!  This card was one of my Hope You Can Cling To cards; that's always the highlight of October for me.

November:






I have to post three cards for this month as I made three of my most favorites ever this month.  November was a good creative month for me I think.  :)

December:



This stamp set from Mama Elephant is probably one of my favorites ever and I love using it so much.  It makes some adorable cards!

So that was my year!    I have my goals all written down and my desk clean and ready for 2015!  Enjoy ringing in the new year!

Year in Review I

I always love to take the last two days of the year to look back at some of my favorite cards for the year.  It's fun to see if anything has changed or if I think I've improved.  This year brought a lot of big changes for me and I am excited to look back over the past 12 months.

January:


This was using my Christmas gift last year, the Cameo.  One of my crafty goals for the coming year is to use it more.  I have a new mat arriving this week and should be all ready to go!

February:


Not the best month of cards for me.  lol  I did make this one which I love.  There's something about black/white with a pop of red that just says elegant.

March:

I just love this card so much.  It's such a fun mix of things and a different look for me!

April:

We were out of town for a while in April, so not many choices. It looks like another rough creative month as well.  I do love this simple card that I made before we left for vacation.   The layout is fun and it has a simple, but pretty look.

May:

This month I joined the Merry Monday team and my favorite card is actually a Christmas card.  I love the gray/blue/silver combo.  This month was a big game changer for my stamping as I got my first Copics for Mother's Day!

June:

This month was one that was hard to pick just one!  I seemed to be enjoying my Copics already.  lol  I do love this pretty flower and the layout of the card.  

See you back tomorrow for the other half of the year!

Simon Says Coffee!

One more challenge card that I haven't shared.  This uses one of the Simon Says Stamp card kits (I love those!) and is for their Wednesday challenge.  It is anything goes this week and I went with a coffee theme.   Who doesn't love coffee?!  The kit isn't available now, but the stamps and die still are and I'm sure the papers and embellishments can be found too.

Laila spotted these in the after-Christmas clearance at Target today.  Ha!  I don't think she quite knew what to think.  :)

Monday Inspiration with Prickley Pear

It's Monday, so time for some inspiration from Prickley Pear.  I loved this sheet of designer paper that I found in my stash and decided to build my card about that.   I love the blue and red together.   It's another great combination that works for Christmas and many other occasions.

Stamps:  Ellie, Christmas Good Will

Be sure to check out the blog for more inspiration!

I snapped this while Laila was napping over the weekend.  She doesn't always want to nap, but her sleep has been a little off with the holidays and she's been falling asleep during her "quiet time" in her bed.

Geeky for MFT

Another challenge card! Yay!  This one uses a fun new set with coordinating dies that Jason got me for Christmas.   As a total nerd/geek family, it's perfect to make cards for us.  :)   I used the sketch at MFT Wednesday Sketch Challenge.  

I don't have any ovals and am waiting on a new mat for my Cameo, so I had to modify the sketch a bit to work with what I have.  I wish I'd made a square card now as it would have looked really awesome.  Maybe I'll try to fit a redo in this week! 

Laila is enjoying her easel that Santa brought.  :)   She's mixed up and used things on the wrong surface, but so far it's all washed off and been okay.   As long as she's having fun and being creative, it's all good! 

Make It Monday with PTI

Can you believe it is almost a new year?!   I can't.  I did sit down last night and think about my crafty goals for next year and wrote them down.  I feel like having that reminder there on my desk might be the key to making them happen!   One thing I want to do is to get back to doing challenges and trying new techniques.  I miss that so much!   It helps me improve as a stamper and stretches my creativity and I just need to make time.   I decided to start early and played along with the Make It Monday challenge at Papertrey Ink.  

We had family spa day today to relax.  Laila loved it and didn't want to get her feet out!  lol

Paper Smooches for Mom

Greetings!   Did everyone survive the holidays?   We did and I am so glad that it is over.   I feel like I have been too busy to even look at my stamp room and that had to stop and fast!   I did manage to sneak in there earlier this week and put this card together for my mom.   I was so sad that she didn't come down this year and thought I'd make a little card to let her know how much we missed having her.  I guess I do have to share her with my brother sometimes, but man!   Anyway...  The Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge is anything goes this week so I used my cute sewing machine again as I love it and it's perfect for Mom.

I hope everyone had a great holiday.  I know Jason totally spoiled us and I have lots of new crafty goodies, Copic markers, and some storage for my markers.   I have been working all day trying to get my room organized and straightened up.   I need to make an IKEA run next week for more stuff and get more listed on eBay.   So much to do!