Favorites for the Year

I've noticed a lot of other bloggers posting their favorite cards of the year, so I thought I'd jump in and try it too! It is kinda fun to look back and see the creative highs and lows throughout the year.

January:  I love this card and it is one of my all-time favorites.  In fact, I still have it stashed away!  :)   I'm not a huge fan of Valentine's Day, but I did love this creation. Maybe I will be nice and give it to my darling husband next year.  :)

February was not a good month, so let's skip over to March.  :)   I borrowed Inspired by Nature from my upline and had a blast with it.  I can't believe I still don't own it for myself!   I love the simplicity of this one and find it quite striking.  

April:  There are a few I love from this month, but this one is definitely my favorite.  I still can't believe I used that many peals on ONE card!!  It is gorgeous though.  The shimmery white card stock really adds a nice element and it truly says 'wedding' to me!  

May:  I'm still a bit surprised that this card is actually one of my creations!  It turned out so fun and absolutely perfect for a teen.   I love to challenge myself by buying a stamp set outside my comfort zone and this one was definitely one of those!

June:  I guess I really like the few wedding cards that I make!  :)  This was one of the cards from my time on the Creative Crew.   I had to borrow the bird punch to make it and was so happy with how it turned out.   

July:  Emboss resist is one of my favorite techniques and this card is my favorite I've made using it.   I love the colors of this one.  Island Indigo is so gorgeous and it has been way too long since I pulled it out!  

I'll save the other months for tomorrow, so stay tuned!  :)

Happy New Year to you all and thank you for all the kind comments over the past year.   It is so fun getting to know other bloggers and making new friends.  

FM39: Happy New Year

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

1. Make a project that "Sparkles".
2. Or Make a project "Celebrating the New Year".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a project "Celebrating the New Year that Sparkles" .

Time for a new challenge at The Friday Mashup!   Kasey has a fun challenge to make a New Year's project with some sparkles!   Who doesn't LOVE sparkle?   Now I must admit that I had to do something thinking for this week.   I started trying to come up with an idea and realized that I have no number stamps or dies AND I had ONE sentiment that said Happy New Year.   So, sparkly stars it was!   :)

What do you think?  Can it pass a fun sparkly card for the new year?   I hope so!   It definitely has a lot of sparkle.  I used black with the silver glimmer paper in hopes of the silver really shining.   I used a retired star stamp to emboss some small silver stars in the corner too.   My original idea was one big star on a black background, so you can see I kept adding more and more to finally get something that seemed complete. 

I hope you'll find some time between celebrations to play along with us this week!   

Stamps:  Teeny Tiny Wishes, July Fourth

Ink:  Versamark, Staz On Black

Paper:  Silver glimmer paper, Basic Black, Whisper White

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Stars #2 die, silver embossing powder, heat tool, basic rhinestones

FM38: Be My Valentine

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

1. Make a project using the "Sketch".
2. Or Make a project using "Watercoloring".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a project using the "Sketch & Watercoloring" .

With everything going on last week trying to figure out if we were going to go out of town or not, I wasn't able to do my card for the Friday Mashup.   My mind finally settled enough today that I thought I would at least attempt one.   I was hoping to watercolor, but my Aquapainter seems to be clogged up or something.   Anyone had that happen and have any suggestions?  I tried hot water, but it didn't work.   It is ancient, so it might just be time to buy some new ones.   Anyway, I decided to do a card with the sketch, but I probably should have looked at it again before I started my card.  I think it is still kinda close, but I'm not sure if my little envelope is close enough to the bottom.   I tried though...that's more than I've felt like doing for a while now.  

I was able to use a few new-to-me products and a much neglected one as well.   The scallop envelope die was one of the first I purchased, but I never seem to use it for much of anything.   I thought it would be cute to stick some of my new heart products in!   Thanks to all the wonderful sales of the past two months, I'm all set for Valentine's Day with new punches and I {heart} Hearts.  I also used my birthday present (the one I got myself), the Tasteful Trim die.   I love that thing already.   For my colors, I decided to play along with the colourQ challenge this week to use black, white, and one other color of our choice (red).   I even used my light tent that Jason got me for Christmas too!   I hope it will help my poor pictures, especially during the dreary winter days. 

I hope you like my card and will find time in the next week to play along!   Last week's challenge is still open as well, so you have lots of opportunities to create.  

Thanks to everyone who left comments and well wishes on yesterday's post.   Hugs back to you all.   

Before I go, I thought I'd share some of our baking.   I made some yummy cranberry orange scones and Jason makes homemade cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning.  

I used this recipe, but made my own orange glaze with orange juice and powdered sugar.  Yummy!  I'm addicted to anything cranberry/orange, so these were a perfect treat last week. 

I don't have the recipe for these as it is in a booklet that came with our bread machine.  I will just say they are delicious and leave it at that.   I'm sure I gained 5 pounds eating them!  

Ramblings...

Eli's rose bush has been gorgeous for over a month now, so I thought I'd share a quick picture of one of the beautiful blooms we've had to enjoy. 

It feels like ages since my last post; I apologize for that.    This time of year is just so difficult for us and I haven't had the energy to do anything in my craft room.   Last week on my birthday,  my grandma passed away.   She was a second mom to me during my childhood, so having that happen on my birthday and so close to the holidays was pretty hard.   The airline prices and timeline of the funeral did not work out so that we were able to get arrangements made in time to make the journey to Kentucky, so that didn't help things either.   

We did survive Christmas, but that's about all I can say about that.   When you have dreams of having Christmases with your child and then lose them, the holidays are really never the same.   Add in being so far away from family and it is almost just another day.   Jason did get me a photo light tent with all the bells and whistles, so I have my fingers crossed for better photos once I get back to stamping.   

Today is actually the three year anniversary of the horrible night we had to rush to the emergency room with Eli and Thursday will be three years since we first heard the words spinal muscular atrophy and fatal.    If you don't see any new posts before the new year, just know that I'm struggling with a lot of memories and getting out of bed can be a challenge.   My hope is that 2012 will bring some good news and joy will again return to our home.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and are looking forward to the new year.

Lots of hugs,
Rita

Happy Birthday!

We are kicking off the holiday week with birthday celebrations!  Today is my wonderful husband Jason's birthday and tomorrow is mine.   While it sucks to have a December birthday, it is great to be married to someone who gets it.  I always get a REAL birthday present, not a combination birthday/Christmas present, dinner out, and some sort of yummy dessert.   

To make Jason's day start off special, I made this yummy oven omelet this morning.   I did add a bit of chopped onion and some fresh baby spinach to ours.  It was pretty darn good too! 

This week was really trying at work for Jason, so I wanted to make him a funny card.  Or at least one that would make him smile really big.  :)   We have an on-going Dr. Who joke about the Tardis, so I thought I'd try to make a Tardis.  (I don't watch the show, but I always seem to wake up and hear Tardis on the TV).  I am not a punch art person, nor do I draw or even write very well, so this was definitely a challenge!   It isn't the best card, but he smiled until his face hurt.   I'm calling that a success!   Me and the kitties got him the newest Call of Duty game too, so he should be all set to blow up things today!

FM 37: Distressed Labels

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

1. Make a project featuring "Chipboard (Precut or Diecut )".
2. Or Make a project using "Distressing (w/ ink, scissors or the Cutter Tool Kit)".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a "Distressed Project featuring Chipboard"

For a distressed, vintage card, that picture sure is loud!   Yikes.   I hope you have your sunglasses handy.   I am accepting donations to the "Rita Needs a Photography Class" fund by the way.  :)   

This week at the Friday Mashup Heidi has a super fun challenge for everyone.    If you are like me and put your chipboard up for safekeeping and can't find it, you can just do a card using distressing.  If you are more organized and know where your chipboard is, you could mash it up and use chipboard and distressing.   Or just chipboard.  So many options, right?   I love these challenges!    

You are getting a lovely sneak peek at some upcoming products from the Occasions Mini and Sale-a-Bration.   I'll pause and give you time to gasp and maybe jump up and down a bit.   

All done?  So yeah, there's awesome new paper and some stamp sets that have matching Framelit dies!   This was my first time using them and well...  I LOVE THEM!   I think I got a bit carried away with my sponging and distressing; I guess I can always say I dropped it in a mud puddle or something.  :)   Distressing is a great way to get rid of those holiday frustrations, so I highly recommend it this week.  Tear, rip, sponge, tear...you get it, right?   :)   

I hope you'll find the time to come play along with us!

Stamps:  Apothecary Art (I always think of the Pottery Barn Apothecary Table episode of Friends)  :)

Ink:  Soft Suede, Poppy Parade, Pool Party, Lucky Limeade

Paper:  Poppy Parade, Pool Party, Lucky Limeade, Everyday Enchantment DSP (SAB), Whisper White

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Labels Framelit dies, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, brayer, cutter kit, sponges, basic pearls

Clearance Rack Blitz!

Oh my!   Just in time to treat YOURSELF for the holidays, Stampin' Up! has updated the Clearance Rack with over 200 new items!   I already placed my order this morning because as for any clearance sale, it is only while supplies last!    Be sure to visit my online store to shop today!  

Keep in mind:

Clearance Rack merchandise can only be ordered online through my store.

All punches are going to be the old whale tail style, not the newer style.

Non-clearance rack merchandise can also be added to orders.  

Qualifying orders of $150+ are eligible for hostess benefits.  

FMS 15: Be My Valentine

Time for our last sketch of the year at Freshly Made Sketches!   Cindy designed our sketch this week and boy did she challenge us!    I am not good with tilted anything on cards, so it took me a bit of time to figure out what I wanted to make.   I am officially done thinking about Christmas cards, so I moved on to the next fun holiday, Valentine's Day!   Crazy, huh?  

It feels a bit plain to me, but I wasn't sure what else to do with it.  I wanted to add some embossing, but I wasn't sure it would look right on the pink panels.   Greeting Card Kids is seriously the most adorable stamp set ever.  I love it!   I wish we had a few sets of them covering every possible holiday and event.  :)    

I hope you'll play along with us this week before the craziness of the holidays sets in next week!  

Stamps:  Petite Pairs, Greeting Card Kids, I Heart Hearts

Ink:  Real Red, Pretty in Pink, Daffodil Delight, Blush Blossom (marker), Staz On Black

Paper:  Real Red, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Brights and Subtles DSP stacks

Tools/Accessories:  Blender Pen, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch, small heart punch, Pretty in Pink 1/8 taffeta ribbon (retired)