Happy Birthday W&W

One of my favorite new companies, Winnie & Walter, are celebrating their first birthday.  How exciting right?   They have some fun challenges going on and I've been trying to play along as I get a chance.   The first one I did was Shay's One challenge to use one of something.  I used one stamp set and one color.    I got distress inks for Christmas and I was so excited to play around with them.   I added some water spots and splattered some diluted white acrylic paint on my background once I'd inked it up.  Fun stuff!   The background has some hearts stenciled on in embossing paste.  It's one of those "simple" cards with lots of steps (and drying time!).   :)

I also use the very awesome current sketch at Retro Sketches.  Love this one!

Be sure to come back tomorrow for two fun posts! 

Pictures were acceptable yesterday.  LOL  Toddlers!  

Prickley Pear Monday Inspiration

It's Monday, so time for some new inspiration from Prickley Pear!   I wanted to switch away from Christmas for a bit, so I went with a favorite, vanilla, black, and the pop of a red flower.   So stunning and so gorgeous!  I got a darker red Copic marker for Christmas, so I was finally able to do a more true red and I love it!

Stamps/Dies:  CLR002 Hibiscus, PPRS-D002 Hibiscus Die Set

Be sure to go check out the blog for lots more inspiration!

Laila doesn't like me to take her picture much anymore, so I might not be sharing as much as before.  She is in a weird stage of that and not liking strangers (to the point of screaming and clinging on to us for dear life).   It's making it hard to have anyone over, but we'll make it through it.  Going to the doctor this week will be an ordeal for sure though.   Anyway, she came to snuggle with me on the bed the other day and had her two Hello Kitty purses, her Hello Kitty cup, and her hat.  She's so silly.

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!