My Favorite 2013 Projects

Happy New Year everyone! I hope the year ahead brings you good health and happiness.

First of all, I realize it was a bit quiet around here during the month of December. I simply got overloaded with all the things I needed to do outside of my creative life. I really didn't think the shorter time between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year would affect me that much but it certainly did. Add to that doctor visits and trips to physical therapy and I was one tired woman. I plan on getting back in gear here soon! Based on the lack of feeds in my reader, apparently I was not alone in feeling a bit overwhelmed during the holiday season.

Before I look ahead to 2014, I would like to share twelve of my favorite 2013 projects with you.

First up are my favorite Design Team projects featuring The Cat's Pajamas, Sweet November and C.C. Designs stamps.

Original post

Original post

Original post

Original post

Original post

 

Original post

 

Original post

And here are a few from some of favorite stamp companies, Verve, Reverse Confetti and Paper Smooches.

Original post

Original Post

Original post

Original post

Original post

I hope that some of my favorites are your favorites as well. Thank you so much for your support throughout the past year! I look forward to sharing more with you in 2014!

C.C. Designs Preview - Love Letter Lucy

The January C.C. Designs previews are in full swing. For today's card I combined the oh so cute Love Letter Lucy with the Mailbox stamp using the masking technique. All the patterned paper came from an older Lily Bee Double Dutch pad. Touches of red in the twill ribbon and the enamel dots provided splashes of color to the neutral color palette. I popped the image up with dimensional dots and then added the sentiment from the also new AmyR Adoring You sentiment set which was stamped onto a piece cut with the Big Hearts Embossing Cutters

Products: C.C. Designs stamps and Cutters, Lily Bee dp, Teresa Collins enamel dots, May Arts twill, Copic Markers
Copics: Skin-E000, E00, E11, R20; Hair-E23, E25, E27; Clothing-W00, E81, E84; Mailbox-C00, C1, C3, C5, R22, R24, R27, E51, E53, W1, W2, W5; Flowers/Grass-Y11, Y21, Y23, YG0000, YG01, YG23, YG25; Shadows-BG70, BG000, BG000

Be sure to check out the C.C. Designs blog for more projects using these adorable stamps. While you are there, enter to win some new stamp goodies.

The stamps I used today along with the other January stamps and dies will be available for purchase at the CC Designs store Thursday, January 2nd at 9am EST.


My Sale Page.

Winter Sparrows

Good morning. This is the last Christmas card for 2013 I have to show you. Hopefully, it's already reached it's destination thank goodness. I used lots of Lawn Fawn items including the Winter Sparrows stamp and dies. I used the Simon Says Layered Tree die to cut papers from the Lawn Fawn Peace Joy Love pad topping it off with a star die cut from American Crafts silver glittery paper. Everything was placed against an embossed white background. The star and birds were attached using dimensional dots.

Products: Lawn Fawn stamp, dp and dies, Simon Says die, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Copic Markers
Copics: R22, R24, R27, BG0000, BG01, BG10, W00, E81, N1, N3, N5, G40, G43, G46

I am off to get a bit more cleaning done and then I need to do some food prep for both Christmas Eve and Christmas day.

Merry Christmas everyone!



My sale page (new items).

Merry and Bright

Today's card is for the December Reverse Confetti Color Challenge which is Red, Pink and Lime. Such fun colors that are right up my alley!


I started out by cutting the larger tag using the Reverse Confetti  Tag Me set from lime green patterned paper and and then just cut the bottom portion from the hot pink patterned paper layering it over the large green, shifting it down a bit to make the tag larger. I stamped the words from the Bring on the Merry stamp set onto red cardstock using white Stampin' Up ink and then heat embossed with white embossing powder. I notched the left side of the stamped piece with a small circle Nestie and then wrapped silver trim around it and secured it with a button and bow. I topped the large tag with a small piece of ribbon and another button and bow combo. After attaching the tag to the card base I used the smaller tag die to cut only the lower portion of the same lime green paper and then slipped it underneath the large tag. A couple of sequins finished it up.

Products: Reverse Confetti stamps and dies, Carta Bella and My Mind's Eye dp, PTI cs and buttons, Paper Source metallic trim, Cuttlebug Embossing folder

I have officially completed my Christmas shopping and they are all wrapped. I still don't have tags on them (I just wrote the name on the back of the package for now). Not sure if I'm going to have time to make handmade ones like I wanted to do. The last of the Christmas cards are going out today - I was a lot later with them than I have been in the past. I have a package going out that probably won't make it on time. I need to get my holiday meal plans together and get to the grocery store. A good house cleaning is in order too. I have a DT release to work on that's due at the end of the year but I haven't even started. Sensing a trend? I'm just not together this holiday. I think the physical therapy trips, the constant back pain and a trip to the doctor that I had to sit in the waiting room for an hour before I saw her has just completely messed up my inner Martha Stewart. I did get two cortizone shots in my SI joints on Wednesday which were painful but not unbearable on Wednesday. They haven't seemed to have kicked in yet though. I'm trying to remain hopeful.


My sale page (new items).

 

Merry Christmas

I have another Christmas card to share with you today using the new Stacey Yacula Silver stamp from Purple Onion Designs. Silver is tiny but oh so cute. I perched him onto a branch cut with the Memory Box Pine Needle Border die with a snowflake cut with the C.C. Designs It's Snowing Cutters situated behind him.I backed the image panel with a scalloped square cut with Spellbinders Nestabilities. The sentiment which came from the Simon Says Holiday Hellos set was stamped with VersaColor Camellia ink. A smattering of sequins were the only embellishments.

Products: Purple Onion Designs stamp, Simon Says stamp, My Mind's Eye dp, Memory Box Die, C.C. Designs Cutters, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Memento and VersaColor ink, Copic Markers
Copics: W00, E81, R30, R32, R35, R37, Y35

Have a great day. See you back here soon.


My sale page (new items).

C.C. Designs Review - Banner Kiki

It's review time on the C.C. Designs Rubber Stamps blog and I am joining other members of the design team in showing you more projects using the December release stamps and dies.

I inked up Banner Kiki La Rue since I didn't get a chance to use her during release week. And since I've been doing so many Christmas cards, I decided to go in a different direction for this little cutie. I used patterned papers from the My Mind's Eye Cut & Paste Adorbs pad, cutting the tag with the Stamp Label Cutters. I stamped the sentiment from the AmyR Hearty Sayings set onto a heart cut with the Big Heart Embossing Cutters. By the way did you know that the C.C. Designs Cutters are on sale now at 25% off?? Now is your chance to stock up on some of those dies you've had your eye on.

Products: C.C. Designs stamps and Cutters, My Mind's Eye dp, PTI button and ribbon, Darice sequins, Bazzill Basics embossing folder, Copic Markers
Copics: Skin-E000, E00, E11, R20; Hair-B32, C5, C7, C9; Clothing-W00, E81, B91, B93, B97, B99; Banner-RV00, R81, R83

There are more review projects on the C.C. Designs blog.


My sale page (new items).

Gift Card Holders {December TCP Tuesday}

The December TCP challenge is in full swing. In the spirit of giving this month's challenge is to create a gift.

I actually needed a couple of gift card holders and they had to be quick and easy as time is running out for me to get all my holiday preparations completed. I chose to use two small decorative gift bags as my base. I made a 3-D snowflake for the first one - using the Snowflake CutUps to cut three snowflakes. I scored each one down the center and then folded in half. I glued the three halves together using liquid adhesive.  This allowed for a flat back and a fanning effect in the front. I cut a flourish from a sheet of American Crafts silver metallic paper using the Heart Swirl CutUps. I attached both pieces to the front of the small bag.  I wrote the name of the recipient onto a small jewelry tag and tied to the flourish with white perle embroidery thread.

I changed up the second (gray) decorative bag, using the Ornaments CutUps to create the 3-D piece using the same techniques as the snowflake. I used the Heart Swirl CutUps again cutting from lime green cardstock for more contrast. I wrapped it around the ornament and then attached both to the front of the bag., threading the jewelry tag through the top of the ornament with hemp twine. A couple of sequins finished it up. Now to just get those gift cards in them!

 

 

Here are the details to the challenge:

1. The first Tuesday of the month Alma will post a challenge on The Cat's Pajamas blog. The challenge will also be posted on the TCP Splitcoaststampers forum and on the TCP Facebook page.
2. If you want to play along you just upload your design right on The Cat's Pajamas blog using the InLinkz button. (The challenge button will be posted on the right hand column of this blog so you don't have to search around). If you want to display your pretties on Splitcoaststampers use keyword TCPTUESDEC13.
3. The Challenge will be a month-long challenge and you can play as many times as you like during that month.
4. Cards and projects must have at least one Cat's Pajamas Stamp or CutUps die in the project.
5. On the First Monday of the Month a winner will be chosen from the previous challenge and crowned Swanky Stamper.
6. The Swanky Stamper will not only be acknowledged as the Swankiest Stamper for that month, but will also receive some of the stamps from our next release and get to play along with us at our Pajamas Party and Blog Hop. AND... They'll even get a special spot in the Gallery highlighting the project that won them the gig AND a badge to display on their blog.
7. The winner will be announced the First Monday of the month on Splitcoaststampers, Facebook page and the TCP Blog.  

By the way, this is the last month long TCP challenge. We will be going back to a weekly challenge in 2014.

Winter Bunny {Lawnscaping Winter Blog Hop}

Good morning to you. I am happy to be joining in on the Lawnscaping Winter blog hop.

The hop started over on the Lawnscaping blog and you should have made it here from Sharna's blog. If you did not, then start the hop at the beginning point because you do not want to miss any of the projects featuring the fabulous Lawn Fawn stamps! There are lots of prizes to be had also by leaving comments as you blog hop!

Today's card is on the masculine side. My husband has several bachelor golfing buddies so I always try to make a batch of cards more appropriate for them. I love bling and girly colors so a lot of my cards lean more feminine. It's a real struggle to tone it down.

I started out by cutting the tag and using a Heidi Swapp stencil, Golden Fiber Paste and Doodlebug glitter to create a falling snow look. I then colored up the Lawn Fawn Winter Bunny image with Copic Markers and fussy cut out. The sentiment which came from The Cat's Pajamas Merry Everything set was stamped onto a separate flag shape. The paper all came from the Bazzill Basics Nordics Pine pad. I couldn't help myself - just had to slip in a bit of bling using American Crafts metallic paper.

Products: Lawn Fawn stamp, Bazzill Basics dp and cs, The Cat's Pajamas sentiment stamp, American Crafts silver dp, PTI and Bazzill Card Shoppe cs, Heidi Swapp stencil, Golden Fiber Paste, Doodlebug Sugar Coating, WPlus9 tag die, Copic Markers
Copics: Bunny-W00, E81; Scarf-R22, R24 E19; Sled-E31, E34, E37

Now it’s time to hop on over to Kari's blog. Don't forget to comment along the way for a chance to win some fun prizes. You can find out about prize specifics on the Lawnscaping Challenge blog.

I am also entering this card in the current CAS-ual Fridays (CF123) challenge which has a theme of  Let it Snow as well as the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge which is also a theme of Let it Snow.

My sale page (new items).

C.C. Designs Preview - Skating Twila

It's review time on the C.C. Designs Rubber Stamps blog and I am joining other members of the design team in showing you more projects using the December release stamps.

Today's card features Roberto's Rascals Skating Twila which I colored with Copic markers. After creating the background strips, I added the main image to the panel with dimensional dots. After tying the twill ribbon, I added a snowflake cut with the new C.C. Designs  It's Snowing Cutters and a smattering of sequins. Although this is a generic winter image, I made it into a Christmas one by adding a sentiment from the AmyR Christmas Sentiments II set which was stamped onto a flag shape and my patterned paper choices from last year's My Mind's Eye Winter Wonderland pad.

Products: C.C. Designs stamp and Die, My Mind's Eye dp, May Arts twill, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Copic Markers
Copics: Skin-E000, E00, E11, R20; Hair-E31, E34, E37; Clothing-R32, R35, R37, R46, BG10, BG11, BG72, W00, E81; Shadows/Ice-BG0000, BG000, BG70


There are more review projects on the C.C. Designs blog.


My Sale Page.

Jingle All the Way

I know the blog has been rather quiet. The only projects you've seen so far in December were design team projects which were pre-posted before Thanksgiving. In fact, until yesterday, I had not done any crafting in two weeks. I feel very rusty! Part of the problem lies in that since I craft in my dining room, I had to put everything away for out of town family as well as the Thanksgiving meal which was at my house this year. Truthfully, I've been in a bit of a funk too. I've been going to physical therapy for several weeks and have not made any progress with my back so I think injections are inevitable. I can live with the pain most of the time but the fact that I can't do a lot of the things I would like to physically is depressing.

I'm still working on Christmas cards and have several I need to complete before sitting down and getting them all addressed and mailed. Today's card is for December Sketch For You to Try (#7). I allowed the wintery scene in the patterned paper from the Crate Paper Sleigh Ride pad from last year be the center piece of the card. I used a couple of stamps from the Reverse Confetti Tinsel 'n Trim set stamped onto a piece cut with the Tag Me Confetti Cuts. The trio of triangles was stamped with Memento Luxe Grey Flannel ink and then the sentiment with Versamark which was heat embossed with Michael's embossing powder. I added a trio of silver bells cut with the C.C. Designs Bells Cutters, stringing them in and around the main image with silver metallic trim which I anchored with silver sequins.

Products: Reverse Confetti stamps and die, Crate Paper dp, C.C. Designs Cutters, Memento Luxe and Versamark inks, Michael's embossing powder, Darice sequins

I hope all is well in your part of the world. 

My Sale Page.

C.C. Designs Preview - Pocket Birgitta

Welcome to the last day of the C.C. Designs Rubber Designs December stamp release! We are ever so close to release day!!

Today's card features the newest Swiss Pixie, Pocket Birgitta. I combined her with  papers from the Teresa Collins Santa's List pad which has been one of my favorites this year. I kept things simple just adding a couple of snowflakes cut with the It's Snowing cutters which were layered onto circles cut from a American Crafts glitter sheet.  Lastly, the sentiment from the AmyR Christmas Sentiments II set was stamped onto a flag shape and and anchored with a small rhinestone.

Products: C.C. Designs stamp and Dies, Teresa Collins dp, American Crafts glitter dp, Doodlebug rhinestones, Copic Markers
Copics: Skin-E000, E00, E11, R20; Hair-YR30, YR31 Y21; Clothing-W00, E81, E84, W1, W2, W5; Shadows-C00, C1


This stamp along with the other December stamps and dies will be available for purchase at the C.C. Designs store Thursday, December 5 at 9am EST.


My Sale Page.

C.C. Designs Preview - Snow Cute

Welcome to Day 2 of the C.C. Designs Rubber Designs December stamp release! This month is all about winter.

Today's card features the Snow Cute stamp. I always love Christine's take on snowmen. Aren't they cute? I went with a more masculine look combining the image with papers from the Bazzill Basics Countdown to Christmas pad. I also used two of the newest C.C. Designs dies, the Icicle Border and It's Snowing. I added white Liquid Applique to the toboggan and pom pom balls to the hat and highlighted the snow with Ranger Diamond Stickles.

Products: C.C. Designs stamps and Dies, Bazzill Basics dp, Liquid Applique, Ranger Stickles, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Copic Markers
Copics: Snowmen-W00, E81, R20, YR20, YR12, YR14, W2, W5, N1, N3, N5, N7, N9, YG91, YG93, G85, R22, R24, R29; Snow/Shadows-W00, E81, BG70, B0000

This stamp along with the other December stamps and dies will be available for purchase at the C.C. Designs store Thursday, December 5 at 9am EST.


My Sale Page.

C.C. Designs Review - Sweet Penguins

It's review time on the C.C. Designs Rubber Stamps blog and I am joining other members of the design team in showing you more projects using the November release stamps and dies.

Today's card features the Sweet Penguins set which I colored with Copic Markers. I cut the rectangular patterned paper piece and then punched out circles, replacing with the three penguin images. The sentiment from the also new AmyR Christmas Sentiments II was stamped onto a banner cut with the C.C. Designs Scrolling Banners CutUps. I kept things CAS just adding a snowflake cut with the new C.C. Designs  It's Snowing CutUps along with a smattering of Doodlebug enamel dots and sequins. The patterned paper came from the My Mind's Eye Winter Wonderland from last year.

Products: C.C. Designs stamps and Cutters, My Mind's Eye dp, Memento and Memento Luxe inks, Doodlebug enamel dots, Copic Markers
Copics: Penguins-W00, E81, YR20, YR23, N1, N3, N5, N7; Bow-BG0000, BG000, BG10; Candy-R22, R24, R27, YG0000, YG21, YG13; Shadows-BG70, BG0000, BG000

There are more review projects on the C.C. Designs blog.


My sale page (new items).

Frost Penguin

I am feeling a bit crazed these days. One minute I'm doing Christmas projects and the next I'm working on Thanksgiving. I guess it just goes with this time of the year, huh?

I couldn't resist the new Stacey Yacula collection over at Purple Onion Designs. I only got about half of what I really wanted! I love penguins so "Frost" definitely had to be on the list. He's fun and cute and easy to color. I kept things simple with lots and lots of white space. I paired him up with a Spellbinders Nestie set I've had a while but never used, placing Frost last with dimensional dots to give him a bit more presence. The paper came from the Lawn Fawn Peace Joy Love pad which is a real favorite this year and I added a smattering of Lawn Fawn matching sequins. I am submitting this for the current Lawnscaping Challenge #70 to use polka dots and also for the Catered Crop Animal House challenge.

Products: Purple Onion Designs stamp, Lawn Fawn dp and sequins, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Copic markers
Copic markers: W00, E81, N1, N3, N5, N7, YR20, YR23, R22, R24, R27
 
And by the way, The Cat's Pajamas has an awesome Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale starting today!! This is your chance to stock up on TCP goodness!

Thanks for stopping by!

Thanksgiving Cards

Happy Monday to you. I'm in a frenzy to get everything ready for Thanksgiving dinner and out of town family in between trips to physical therapy. It's definitely been busy around here as I'm sure it is around your house too.

I managed to get a couple of Thanksgiving cards completed this weekend which is a good thing as I need to get them in the mail asap if they are to get there on time. I used the Paper Smooches Autumn Groves stamp set and patterned paper from the Lawn Fawn Into the Woods for both. All the stamped images were fussy cut out after coloring with Copic Markers. For the first card, I used the birch tree patterned paper as my image background cut with Spellbinders Nestabilities rectangular shape. Lots of leaves, a pumpkin and the scarecrow along with the birch tree were included for an autumnal scene. 

For the second card, I cut a circle from the woodgrain patterned paper for the image background using Spellbinders Nestabilities. I stamped and colored the same scarecrow, pumpkin and leaves images as the first card except that I added the small acorn and switched out the type of tree. I placed the image scene on the card background with dimensional dots and slipped some buttons underneath. I added a sentiment from the Verve Tall Oaks set stamped onto a banner shape cut with Reverse Confetti Tag Me die set. Another banner shaped strip of patterned paper anchored with a button tied with twine finished it up.

Products: Paper Smooches stamps, Lawn Fawn dp and sequins, Verve stamp, PTI ribbon and buttons, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Copic Markers
Copics: Trees/Leaves/Pumpkin-W00, E81, W1, W2, W5, YR30, YR31, YR23, G40, YG11, G43, YR12, YR14, YR16, E31, E34, E39; Scarecrow-E000, E00, E13, R20; BG70, BG11, BG72, Y21, YR23, E35, YR30, YR31, YR23, YR12,YR14, YR16, E31, E34, E39

Thanks for stopping by.

My sale page (new items).

{The Cat's Pajamas TCP Tuesday} Snow Dudes

It's TCP Tuesday time again. Remember that even though it is a monthly challenge, you can enter as many times as you want. This month we are doing a "What's On Your Desk?" challenge. Specifically, make one card and then with the supplies and papers on your desk, make two more. My cards are all different but that is not a requirement.

I have another set today that I created for the TCP Tuesday challenge but actually previewed at last month's release Pajama Party at Splitcoaststampers. I used the Let the Flakes Fly set combining them with papers from last year's Doodlebug North Pole and this year's Home for the Holidays 6x6 pads since the colors are the same in both. Other common elements include snowflakes which are all left over from a previous project using the Snowflake Lace Paper CutUps, sequins and ribbon.

The first card uses the new Celebration Toppers as well as the guitar playing snowman displayed on a hand cut tag shape.

Card #2 uses the new Celebration Toppers again and features both snowmen on the main image panel. I drew in some lines on both snow dude's scarves with a Copics Multiliner pen to give them more of cabled sweater look and colored with Copic Markers.

 

The final card features a background embossed with the Dots CutUps. The decorative circles repeat the circles in the background one of which contains the sentiment. I drew in some lines on the snow dude's scarf with a Copics Multiliner pen to give it more cabled sweater look, colored the image with Copic Markers. After fussy cutting him out, I placed onto a hand cut tag shape.

Products: The Cat's Pajamas stamps and CutUps, Doodlebug dp, Michael's ribbon, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Copic Markers
Copics: Snowmen-W00, E81, R20, YR12, YR14, N1, N3, N5, R22, R24, R27, YG0000, YG01, YG03, YG25; Instruments-E30, E31, E34, YR30, YR31, YR23; Shadows-C00, C1

Here are the details to the challenge:

1. The first Tuesday of the month Alma will post a challenge on The Cat's Pajamas blog. The challenge will also be posted on the TCP Splitcoaststampers forum and on the TCP Facebook page.
2. If you want to play along you just upload your design right on The Cat's Pajamas blog using the InLinkz button. (The challenge button will be posted on the right hand column of th3 blog so you don't have to search around). If you want to display your pretties on Splitcoaststampers use keyword TCPTUESNOV13.
3. The Challenge will be a month-long challenge and you can play as many times as you like during that month.
4. Cards and projects must have at least one Cat's Pajamas Stamp or CutUps die in the project.
5. On the First Monday of the Month a winner will be chosen from the previous challenge and crowned Swanky Stamper.
6. The Swanky Stamper will not only be acknowledged as the Swankiest Stamper for that month, but will also receive some of the stamps from our next release and get to play along with us at our Pajamas Party and Blog Hop. AND... They'll even get a special spot in the Gallery highlighting the project that won them the gig AND a badge to display on their blog.
7. The winner will be announced the First Monday of the month on Splitcoaststampers, Facebook page and the TCP Blog.  

The Cat Pack members are taking the following Tuesday off for the Thankgiving week so this is the last Tuesday we will be showing you samples. You still have until the 30th to complete the projects you want to submit for this challenge.