2013 top 10

So 2013 was my second full year of card making. And I so happy to say that I made every single birthday, Halloween, Valentine's Day, thank you, sympathy, anniversary, wedding and Christmas card I sent. The best part about compiling this list is that I can see the improvement from the previous year. Here are my favorites from the year.

For the most part these are in no particular order, but this is my very favorite. It's me.

 

This is my favorite Halloween card. Unfortunately, it looks black and white in the picture.

This one just felt very Christmasy.

 

 

I love this stamp and the scrapbook paper that reminds me of old wallpaper.

 

 

A wedding card for a colleague, love the gray and yellow color combo.

 

 

Lots of textures.

 

 

I incorporated a photo of my favorite roller coaster.

 

 

Just fun.

 

 

My first attempt at the emboss resist technique.

 

 

 

 Love this poinsettia die.

 

 

 



Unscripted sketch #236

A friend's grandmother passed away on Christmas day and a sympathy card is the one card I don't make without knowing specifically who it will go to so I have no stash. For my card I used Unscripted Sketch #236. For me, this is a great layout because I'm primarily a paper-piecing card maker and this has tons of possibilities.



And here is my card:

Well, I guess I just need to make a new friend

Classic blunder. I saw Unscripted Sketch Challenge #228 and had some cupcake stickers that I thought would be just the thing for a cute birthday card. Cranked that baby out in 15 minutes, which is really saying something for me. Seriously. I can spend a day on a card and then finish it the next day. But anyhoo. It was easy and I like it. Problem? Looks kinda like a card for a youthful type gal. And by youthful I'm thinking 8 to 10 years old. Maybe is was the "Birthday Girl" sentiment. Maybe the colors. Anyway, doesn't quite fit the profile of my buds, since we're all, you know, sophisticated and everything. But it just came together so easily and things usually have a way of working out so into the shoe box of birthday cards it goes!

JB Pink Christmas #2

And here is my second card for the Jingle Belles Pink Christmas Challenge. And the best part is that the Belles are donating $4 to Susan G. Komen Foundation for every card entered in the challenge.

Dreamin' of a Pink Christmas

Card #1 for the Jingle Belles Pink Christmas Challenge is pretty basic, just some stamped and embossed trees and a simple sentiment. But it was REALLY hard to get it right. Time after time I stamped my trees, poured on the embossing powder and as soon as I hit it with the heat gun, the trees turned all ghostly and transparent! Could not figure it out for the life of me. FINALLY I realized that my transparent embossing powder is in the exact same type of jar as the white fine detail embossing power. Sigh.

No squares allowed...or rectangles

Another fun card making session! Here's my second card for the Jingle Belles challenge, to make a card in any shape other than a square or a rectangle. You should check out the cards there, you'll love them. For this card I used the Merry Monday Color Challenge, using the colors red, pink, dark green and light green. That is probably my favorite combo of bright Christmas colors.

 

 

 I had such a fun time trying out my new Shapeabilities poinsettia dies and was very happy with my new Holiday Wishes sentiment stamps from Bo Bunny, all perfectly sized for card making.

 

I am also submitting this to Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - Anything goes as long as it's Christmas and to Weekly Christmas card Challenge #44, also anything goes.

October Resolution: Shape Up!

Talk about kismet! Or is it serendipity? The current Jingle Belles challenge is to make a card using any shape other than a square or rectangle and as of yesterday my employer launched a "shape up" campaign, where we're encouraged to join a team and set a fitness goal. I joined a team and, well, so far so good...one day down 30 to go!

I used the 52 (Christmas) Card Throwdown technique challenge, emboss resist. First time using this technique and I will definitely be using it again.

Also am submitting this to Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - anything goes as long as it's Christmas

Emboss Resist

Vintage postcard Christmas

For the current Jingle Belles challenge, Vintage Views, I scanned a genuine old postcard...it was mailed with just a town name and no state and no zip code. To frame it, I die cut an opening in some paper that looks like old wallpaper to me and also used it to line the envelope, which I also made with my new envelope template! I am very excited to be making my own envelopes. Happy dance!

I am also submitting to Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - Anything Goes as long as it's Christmas.

Red & Green and Krafty all over!

Managed to make a couple of cards pretty fast yesterday, which is great since Christmas card mailing time will be here before I know it!

I love this sketch that Allison Fillo created for the current Jingle Belles challenge.



I combined this with the Merry Monday challenge, to make a card using red, green, kraft paper and ribbon, which is a great combo.



And here's my card.

Have a great week!

Hit the Road Jack!

My friend Stephanie sent me a link to this great Drunken Stampers camping challenge. I was actually camping when she sent it to me, something my husband and I do whenever we can. I knew that I had to submit something and between work and shuttling teenagers to and from school and football practice, I'm just barely squeaking this in. But it got the creative juices going and I've decided to make a camping valentine for my hubby...not for Valentine's Day, just because.

The sketch is Retro Sketches #79 , the papers are scrapbook paper and these perfect stamps from Inkadinkadoo, which also came as a surprise in the mail one day from the aforementioned awesomely talented Stephanie!

Q is for Quick!

Lately I've gotten away from doing card challenges, mostly getting my inspiration from books or various sources on the internet. So today I decided it was time to get a card done that I could submit to several different challenges. I managed to make this one very fast and am submitting it to five challenges, but I have to admit...this one just isn't floating my boat.

 

 

I'm submitting to the following:

 

Jingle Belles tic tac toe - the diagonal line, die cut, red or green, embossing

Merry Monday #71 - the sketch

52 (Christmas) Card Throwdown (linen)

ABC Christmas Challenge Q is for Quick

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - Anything Goes

 



Home for the Holidays

Just found my camera cable after a month so I'm getting a card into the current Jingle Belles challenge...just in time!

Cardstock Christmas

When the name of your blog has "pieces of paper" in it, a challenge to make a card using only cardstock is just up your alley. And so it was that I had a simply splendid time cutting and embossing several colors of core'dination cardstock to come up with this card based on the Jingle Belles Cardstock Christmas challenge. I love this gingerbread die and it seemed like he was calling out to be used for this challenge. I think he looks quite handsome and am now going to make another card using this die.

Happy 4th of July!

Heading out to a little barbecue and cooking competition shortly; I managed to get my prep done early so I decided to do a card challenge, something I love to do but don't seem to have time for very often these days. Today I tried my hand at Muse Challenge #24. The inspiration card by Laurie Willison has a great chartreus-y green and black color combo and a bold, textured design. I tried to capture the bold feel and colors using some scrapbook papers that I've had for a while. They look a bit more gold in the picture than in the flesh, uh, I mean paper. Not sure if you can see the reddish smudges on the patterned paper...but that's the paper...not my inky fingers, for once! Hope your 4th is superb!

Going digital...

Haven't done much with digital images...so I was very pumped to try the current Jingle Belles challenge, to make a card using digital images. I found a page of vintage Christmas images on eBay and decided to give it a go. Here's my first one.

 

 

This little guy is one of 5 or 6 images on the page and I like them all. But it dawned on me after I made this that the images would work best for kids...and there aren't too many of those on my card list. Note to self: get more friends with young children. :-)

Sketchin' all the way

I really love this sketch from Jingle Belles because it was so easy to come up with a card using it. I only had about 15 minutes and managed to come up with something in that short amount of time, just pulling from some of the first scraps I came across right away. Maybe not terribly creative, but I like it!

Vintage Christmas!

 

Just got back from a fun vacation with the family, theme parks and beaches, always a good choice with teenage boys! Upon return, a skunk sprayed one of the dogs...not so fun.

 

Happily, I had fun making another Christmas card as I am determined that I will not have to make a bunch in a hurry this December! This is my take on the Vintage Christmas challenge at Christmas Cards All Year Round. I scanned a page of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas", but it's hard to read on the computer screen. It starts with "So up to the rooftop the coursers they flew".

 

Also submitting this to the "In Stitches" challenge at Card Crafter's Challenge, which I just came across. I am not that great at stitching on cards, but I love the effect so I keep trying! And finally, submitting to Crafty Hazelnut Christmas Challenge Extra, Anything Goes, as long as it's Christmas.

 

Thanks for dropping by!

 

 

Ribbons and bows

Wow, 6 weeks since I posted here or Facebook; even for me, that's a long time! I've been making cards, even keeping up with some challenges, but haven't taken the time to photograph or post.

So here' the first card I've photographed in over a month...this is my take on the current Jingle Belles challenge, to make a card using ribbons. As always, I love seeing what the Belles post and had a ball playing with ribbons and pieces of paper!

 

Merry Earth Day!

This week, the Jingle Belles challenge incorporates Earth Day (April 22), make a card using a recycled element. Well, I was well prepared for this one! I had saved a card I got last Christmas because I knew the wreath would be perfect for a recycled card.

Here is the card I made, I even cut the sentiment out of the inside and put it inside my card:

And here is the card I received:

Christmas Tree Bling

Love Christmas card challenges. Not as much as I love my pups, but maybe as much as I love having my teeth cleaned...and that's saying something. The card below is inspired by several different challenges, all of them truly wonderful. I have to admit, I really like this card. I almost always use someone else's card for inspiration. I just did this one and was very happy how it turned out. So I made several. Happy dance.

 

 

 

I made another version that would fit the same challenges, but to be honest...it's pretty ugly. Apparently there really is such a thing as too much bling. :-) I am submitting this to the following challenges:

Jingle Belles: Jingle Belles are blinging!
CHNC Challenge #119 : use the word Christmas
CHNC Extra: Anything goes as long as it's Christmas
CCAYR: Oh Christmas Tree

Forever and Always

Love card challenges. Not as much as I love my husband or son, but probably as much as the coconut caramelized banana cream pie I made for Easter dinner. And I'm telling you, that is saying something. And this weekend I came across a great new challenge called Fusion. Check it out.

And it seemed serendipitous because I needed to make a wedding card...and the photo looks like a wedding cake to me. I combined both challenges and here's my card.

 



It's not black...I really need to learn how to use my camera and photoshop better. It's gray. Anyway, I like it so I'm happy.  I'm also submitting to CAS(E) this sketch, which is a challenge I've looked at but never tried. Oh yeah, first wedding card I've made, so that's three firsts!

Neutral Christmas #2

Here's my second card for the Jingle Belles neutral Christmas card challenge. Very simple...to say the least. Last of my Christmas rub-ons from EAD. Heavy sigh...

Going neutral!

The current Jingle Belles challenge is to make a card using only neutral colors. I never make cards using gray, but decided to give it go.  I think it looks quite a bit better in real life, on the computer it looks like a black and white photo. I went through several iterations and I think it would have looked better with a darker background but it just looked too grim when I tried that. The papers are all scrapbook paper, intended for a wedding scrapbook. Anyway, I'm on the fence on this but it was a fun one to play around with. The layout is inspired Unscripted Sketches sketch-it Saturday #203, displayed below my card.

 

 

Muse Challenge #9

Finding it quite difficult to do much with paper these days, but I'm managing to get at least a couple cards out each week. This card is inspired by the Monday Muse challenge by Marion Vagg.



I immediately thought of the ocean, not just the blues and teals, but also the white has the airiness of surf. Also, it reminded me of a quilt that my mom made, which has similar colors. So my card combines the ocean and quilt. And now I'm off to do some more cards!

 

 

Muse Challenge #8

Great concept for a card challenge! Here is my take on Muse Challenge #8. Pretty simple, really. Just some paper layers, a few butterflies and a rub-on sentiment. The flowers are actually quite sparkly, but they don't seem to pick that up. I need to learn more about lighting!

Sticky sweet greetings

And here is my second stickery card. There are three stickers on this. The Santa, the greenish looking strip of plants in the middle (I wanna say poinsettia, but who knows...could be broccoli) and even the little sentiment is a chipboard sticker. Great to be back in my crafting nook...happy dance!

Sticky Christmas Cards

First card I've made in weeks!! I'm tellin' ya...every time I cut back on one thing, something else pops up to fill its place (and then some). I gave up one of the non-profits that I was working with, just not enough hours in the week. And then...I found that my name was added to a committee to award scholarships...I couldn't turn that down. Next I was asked to help with uniforms for the high school track and field teams; uniforms distributed...check. I can hardly wait to get them back for laundering at the end of the school year. :-) Obviously I love doing it all or I wouldn't.

But the result is too little card-making! Last night I quickly produced two cards just to make sure I get to post something on Jingle Belles for this challenge. And it was awesome! Not the cards, although I like them...but it was getting in and touching the paper, putting things in place and moving them around, losing myself in the process. I love it.

The current Jingle Belles challenge is to make a card featuring stickers. So I thought, hey I have a ton of stickers that I need to put to use. I'm going to make a card entirely of stickers! Well, and paper to put the stickers on. So I took a bunch of stickers and played around until I found something I liked. And THEN...as I tried to peel off the piece that protects the sticky part...I realized that they weren't stickers after all. They're just little paper thingies. Oh well. The sentiment is a sticker so it qualifies. I stuck all the pieces on with adhesive. End of story.

Starry, snowy night...

This is my second card based on the  Jingle Belles sketch challenge (designed by Brenda Barton). I'm also submitting this to Winter Wonderland snowflakes falling all around,  CHNC #113 one word is sufficient and Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - Anything Goes.

This is Brenda's sketch:

And here is my card:

 

As you can see, I rotated the sketch 90 degrees counter-clockwise (or was it 270 degrees clockwise? I've forgotten). This time I was more liberal in the interpretation, although I still stuck with three elements on the semi-circle, the house, the tree and the snowman. My photo didn't turn out the way I'd hoped, nor did the card actually, but it was a fun one to make! I must also mention that the idea for this card came from a card I saw somewhere...and would love to give credit where due, but I really can't figure out where I saw it!

No such thing as too many sketch challenges...

Sticking to my New Year's resolution to produce two versions of each card I design is proving to be much easier to stick with than either rez #2 (keeping my craft space organized) or rez #3 (get an hour of exercise every day)! Here is the second version of my card inspired by the current Jingle Belles Sketch challenge, provided by Brenda Barton of Brenda's Crafty Corner. Sometimes I like the first attempt best and sometimes the second one. But as my mom says, you are my very favorite second child.

One thing that was very satisfying about this was the materials I was able to put to use: old scrapbook paper that was gathering dust; an embossing folder that I love but haven't used for a Christmas card yet (one that my buddy Stephanie sent me when I first started card-making, lo these many months ago); my sewing machine, which is less intimidating since I took to heart Lauren's advice "pretend that's how you meant it to look!"; a Christmas tree die that I bought a while ago and never used; and some ribbon that I darkened by rubbing a stamp pad over it.

That was a fun one! Next up, my less successful design.

Candy Hearts!

This card was inspired by the candy heart photo from ABC Challenge and also the Lollipop Ladies. I remember that I loved candy hearts as a kid, eating them and reading the messages. For this card, I punched out some hearts and layered papers for a pretty simple card that didn't take very long to make.

I am also submitting to the following:

Paper Crafting Journey Love Challenge

Challenges for Everybody Anything Goes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Snowy Christmas

Do you ever have one of those days where the card you're creating just isn't working out and you keep tweaking it and nothing works? That happened to me yesterday with the fabulous Jingle Belles Ho-ho-h20 challenge from guest star Linda of Snail's Pace, to make a card using water based products or featuring a water related image, like snow or icicles. I adore anything with snowflakes so it seemed like a no-brainer. But the card I worked on for HOURS is now in the recycling bin. The one below I like better, but to be honest, it doesn't exactly float my boat either. I think it's the sentiment that doesn't quite work. I will make a second card with the same design, since that was a New Year's res and I've stuck with it so far. Maybe I'll like the next one better. I used sketch #196 from Unscripted Sketches Sketch it Saturdays, a challenge I've started doing more often as they have some very creative ladies to glean inspiration from. On the positive side, I made several valentines that I like quite a bit! Bye for now, Go Niners!!

 

 

Red, white & jul

The current Jingle Belles challenge is to make a card based on the Scandinavian Christmas picture below:

 

 I used the triple stamping technique from a recent Splitcoast Stampers tutorial.

 

 

 

I like the triple stamping effect and it seemed to work very well with this very detailed Stampendous poinsettia stamp. This challenge also made me realize that I really like just red and white.

 

Being that I am descended from Swedes I tried very hard to come up with something that reflected my Swedish roots. But sadly, there are no stamps, dies or specialty papers of pickled herring, jello salad or covered dishes.