you can't blame gravity for falling in love - albert einstein

Valentine's day is just around the corner and I get to share my love with a whole craft room of very talented ladies.  Here is the card that I put together for my stamp club Valentine swap:

 

As you might have guessed, for those who know me, there are a few layers involved in this little 5x4.

 

Layer one: Tim's tissue paper torn and randomly glued onto grey cardstock

Layer two: acrylic paint through heart stencil

Layer three: washi tape

Layer four: die-cut heart

Layer five: die-cut love

 

All mounted on my cheat: a pre-fab ombre card purchased at Michaels.

 

I'm entering this not so cute card in:

1.  Anything But Cute Mixed Media Challenges Challenge #10 Grungy Love

2.  Craft Stamper February 2016 Text Me! Challenge

3.  Simon Says: Have a Heart

 

 

 



holiday cards 2015

2015 was a very interesting and challenging year in my personal life and I'm not sorry to see it all end.  Have I been able to learn from the challenges?  Mostly, yes.  I think I've changed a great deal this year; mainly for the better.

I haven't really given 2016 a lot of thought yet, however, I do have some exciting new projects coming up in the first part of the year that I will share and I have decided that crafting needs to be more of  a marathon than a sprint.  Crafting in 2015 came and went in huge bursts of energy and frenzy.  I'm still a member of the stamping club and creating for 40-something members had been a bit of an endeavor with long bouts of rest and breaks from crafting in between.  It has been just like a swimmer coming to the end of the race, for which she was unprepared, and gulping for air until the next race.

Here are the card templates for the 2015 holiday season.  There are two versions of the light garlands; one without any additions and a second with stickles and glossy accents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy New Year fellow blogospere friends.  I wish you and your families and your friends all the very best in 2016.  And have a very crafty new year.

tea and friends: bestest things in the world

I decided to enter this little gorjuss teacup and warm wishes holiday card in The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #19: Silver and Gold challenge and the Sweet Stampin Food and Drink Challenge.

Isn't staying warm with a ginormous pot of tea and enjoying time with someone special the absolute bestest?

make new friends, but keep the old; those are silver, these are gold - joseph parry

This snowfall and village card was one of the many card templates I crafted for the 2015 holiday season.  I am posting this one separately because I have entered it in The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #19: Silver and Gold.

The snowfall background is an indigoblu stamp (snowflake lace) embossed with stampendous aged embossing enamel. 

12 favourite 2014 projects over 2 posts bonus

So you know I couldn't just choose 12 projects, right?  Here's the overflow bonus selection:

3.  you should celebrate the end of a love affair as they celebrate death in new orleans, with songs, laughter, dancing and a lot of wine - francoise sagan (November)

2.  inked stamper design team december project: all you need is love but a little (hot) chocolate now and then doesn't hurt - charles schulz (December)

1.  the lights will guide you home: arctic sky winter wonderland tag
(December)

12 favourite 2014 projects over 2 posts part 2

As promised here's post two of two of twelve of my favourite 2014 projects.  Countdown continuing with number five.

5.  never trust people who promise to make you rich in a day. they are generally crazy swindlers ― carlo collodi, pinocchio (May)

4.  you can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf - jon kabat-zinn (May)

3.  it is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness - lucius annaeus seneca (September).  September was my debut to the Gorjuss girls collection.  I fell in love and haven't looked back.  Santoro has produced some of the most stunning stamps and materials I have seen.  And this card hits the top five list for 2014.

2.  inked stamper design team november project: gorjuss presence (November).  Given my feelings about Santoro it's not surprising that this card makes the list.  I have had more amazing comments about this card than for any other project I have made to-date.  It wasn't hard putting it together after I found On Top of the World.  This card also hits the top five list for 2014.

1.  genius without education is like silver in the mine - benjamin franklin (November).  This was my second memory book this past summer and what an incredible experience putting it together for someone who I admired and enjoyed working with tremendously.  It will always have a soft spot in my crafting heart.

Thank you for joining me in 2014 and your continued kind words and support.  All the best to you, my blogosphere and crafting friends, this holiday season and in the new year xx

12 favourite 2014 projects over 2 posts

As 2014 is coming to a close I thought it would be fun to join some of my blogosphere friends and post my twelve favourite 2014 projects.  There is something very satisfying and fun looking back over the year remembering the work, the grumbles, the mistakes, the successes and the laughs (I still love the story of how Pinocchio got his twig nose) now embedded in each little (or maybe not so little; I'm still working on that) project.  I love remembering the support, the feedback and the people who surrounded me as I crafted.

Here they are in order of appearance:

12. another prima birthday (January) 

11.   goggles and tophats: a steampunk january (February) 

10.  valentine's day tags 42 over 2 posts (February).  This was really an all-time favourite.  I know, I know, it's really three (five if you count post one) projects but I can help myself.  This was my first humungous swap (42 tags) and I love how each set turned out.  Gold star for Valentine's Day 2014.

9.  lil monster layout (March)

8.  shabby freya chic (March) 

7.  scottie and yolanda birthday wishes (May)

6.  always start out with a larger pot than what you think you need - julia child (May)

Stay tuned for post two with the second half of my favourite project picks.

patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet - jean-jacques rousseau: an advent atc

I participated this year in an advent ATC swap.  Last year a few of the ladies gave me their extra copies to whet my appetite and inspire me to join in this year.  I opened all five of them as soon as I got home.  And I got grief from my bestest enabler/friend and my son (who was four at the time).  This year I promised to open them properly (so many rules) and Alex has monitored my ATC opening behaviour.  I get gold stars so far.

I wanted a monotone card which highlighted my number.  Both the background stamp and the cardinal and birch die cut are by Impression Obsession (I'm obsessed with IO).  They make the most incredible cover-your-card backgrounds.  The picket fence, which I embossed, is by Ellen Hutson.  I emphasized the two cardinals by covering them in glossy accents.

The wrapping is often as important as the thing you're trying to wrap.  I love Stampin' Up's tree embossing folder and the tiny clothespins I found at Michaels.  The stamped #2 is also a Stampin' Up holiday stamp set.  Brilliant.

I'm not sure how we ended up in December.  And, as for most people who celebrate anything in December and January, this week promises to be filled with getting ready for celebration, getting ready for next year and enjoying all of the wonders of the holiday season.

I look forward to seeing all of your creative crafty holiday treasures.  Thank you for sharing!